Beyond the End: the last ones of humankind
by Black Robed One
Summary: (Completed) An alternative Babylon 5 reality with elements of Evangelion reality. Earth is devastated in the Third Impact, and Asuka and Shinji are the last living humans. But what will happen to them now?
1. The Last Evangelion

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The Last Evangelion

Declaimer:

I don't own either Neon Genesis Evangelion, or Babylon 5. I don't claim ownership for any original characters from either Neon Genesis Evangelion, or Babylon 5. And finally, I don't write this story for money, so please don't sue me.

Author's Notes:

This story is crossover between Evangelion and Babylon 5. It will start in Evangelion reality, right in the last scene of the End of Evangelion. However, story will soon take Asuka and Shinji, two last surviving Evangelion characters (or, at last, so it would seem) into entirely different world, or, precisely speaking, into entirely different universe.

Oh, and one last thing. Text in 'xxx' is text at computer terminal or computer's voice. I made it this way, so you didn't confuse it with dialogue.

Awakening

As Shinji regained conscious, he was lying at the ocean beach. Above him were clear starry sky. And in the sky, he could see red stream, which, like river, slowly flowed toward the Earth. 

"The River of Souls" - though Shinji, looking into the sky - "Then the Third Impact is canceled. The humanity will reborn in the form of separated beings."

Then Shinji looked around and saw unconscious body of Asuka, which lay nearby. Her terrible wounds were bandaged, and she still breathed… barely. And then, memories suddenly stuck Shinji…

*Flashback*

Shinji ran into a kitchen, where Asuka set. He just needed to talk to somebody, and this somebody was Asuka. All others were so far away, both physically and mentally. He had only her now.

"Asuka, please help me!" - cried Shinji - "Only you can do this."

"Lier!" - shouted Asuka, as she stood up, and started to advance at him.

"Asuka!" - cried Shinji in astonishment, for he had never seen her so angry before.

"You are just afraid to come to anybody else!" - shouted Asuka, as she continued to advance at Shinji - "You are afraid of Misato, afraid of your own father and afraid of the first child! That's why you came to me. You think, it is the easiest way to avoid pain."

"No!" - cried Shinji - "I really need your help! Please…"

*smack*

Asuka landed heavy blow to Shinji's abdomen, sending him flying backwards. Then Shinji crushed into coffee making machine and fall to the floor, into pool of hot coffee.

"How pathetic…" - muttered Asuka.

"Please…" - begged Shinji from the floor - "Please, help me! Don't leave me! Help me!"

"NO" - was Asuka's answer

*End of Flashback*

Without realizing what he was doing, Shinji sat atop Asuka and began to strangle remains of life out from her. But then, Asuka raised her injured right hand and patted Shinji's cheek as gently as she could in her current condition. And Shinji suddenly realized, what he was doing. He released his grip and quickly moved get off from Asuka, but she didn't shown any signs of life…

"What have I done!" - thought Shinji bitterly - "But now, it is too late to change things, isn't it?"

But then Asuka spoke.

"This feeling sucks." - she said.

"You are all right, then?" - asked Shinji with concern in his voice. 

Long silent minute passed before Asuka answered.

"I guess, I am" - she said.

After another long silent minute, before Asuka spoke again.

"What is this?" - asked Asuka, pointing at the River of Souls - "And what happened? Last thing I remember, was how I was fighting against enemy EVAs."

"Well" - said Shinji - "It is a bit too complicated for me to explain. Truth to tell, I didn't understood much myself. But, I guess, everything is okay now. This red is the river of souls of mankind, and soon, all will be as if the Third Impact had never happened."

But then, back starry sky suddenly turned yellow. It seemed as many yellow holes appeared in the sky. And from the holes came tiny dark shapes, and it seemed, that there were at last hundred of them. To Shinji and Asuka's surprise and horror, River of Souls fall into pieces and separated souls started to drift toward the dark shapes, which at close range looked as some kind of space ships from futuristic films. 

"What are they doing?" - asked Asuka.

"I don't know" - answered Shinji - "But whatever they are doing, I am certain that they are doing something horrible. They are stealing souls of mankind!"

And then, as if it was called by Shinji, EVA-01, the last survived Evangelion landed near Shinji and Asuka, holding Lance of Longinus in its right hand. 

"I must go" - said Shinji to Asuka, as he stood up - "I am going to prevent whatever they are doing, even if I will have to pilot Eva one more time. I will not allow them to doom the mankind! Farewell, Asuka."

Before Asuka said anything, Shinji run for EVA-01 and get in the Entry Plug. And then, EVA-01 grow wings of fire, and started to raise swiftly.

The Last Evangelion

Still only half-conscious, Asuka watched, as the Last Evangelion raised to the same level with mysterious enemy ships. The enemies didn't paid much attention to EV-01, and it seemed, that they simply didn't noticed it, or found it not worthing their attention. 

At last so it was in first, for at the next moment, EVA-01 thrown Lance of Longinus at the nearby enemy ship. The Lance of Longinus struck enemy ship and, to Asuka's great surprise disappeared. However, before disappearing, the Lance of Longinus did it work, for enemy ship started to descend and finally crushed to the ground, not far from Asuka. 

But then, one of the enemy ships split from the main group, and headed fast toward EVA-01, apparently going to crush into it. EVA-01 reached for its Palette Rifle and fired a few bursts of fire into the enemy ship. However, enemy ship's pilot easily avoided EVA-01's fire and in the next moment it reached EVA-01. However, instead of crushing into it, enemy ship simply sliced EVA-01 apart, as knife slices butter. And in the next moment, EVA-01 was gone in a cross-like explosion.

"No!" - shouted Asuka, who now fully regained her conscious - "It can't be!"

And then, Asuka turned her attention to the crushed enemy ship. Forgetting all her injuries, Asuka quickly ran to it, hoping that it's pilot was still alive. Her surge of rage during her battle against United Forces and Production Type Evangelions was nothing, compared to this surge of rage. Asuka wanted to kill, kill and then kill again! She wanted to bathe in the blood of her enemies. 

As Asuka reached crushed enemy ship, she saw a large hole in the enemy ship's hull. And as Asuka get inside the enemy ship, she found himself in a large room, it seemed it was the only room at the ship. It was filled with strange devices and stuff and one flash and blood person, who currently leaned heavily upon the wall, and looked at Asuka with sheer horror in his face. 

Without hesitation Asuka charged at enemy, and slammed her right fist in enemy's abdomen. She realized her mistake, only as pain flowed through her injured right hand to her entire body. Her enemy shook his head, and clenched his right hand into fist as well, however, he never get chance to strike. Asuka started to lend blow after blow to her enemy, using her left fist this time. Instead of striking back, her enemy covered his face with his hands, but this didn't bothered Asuka right now. She fully gave away to blood frenzy. Soon enough her enemy fall unconscious to the floor. And then Asuka started to kick him viciously. 

She didn't stopped, until loud crack led her out of her blood frenzy. Asuka looked down, and saw her enemy's neck crushed under her boot. And then, red crystal in her enemy's forehead gave a crack.

A short while ago…

Shinji kept firing burst of fire after burst of fire at the enemy ship but it kept coming, easily avoiding all Shinji's bursts of fire. Shinji didn't know, what his enemy was up to, but he was certain, that it would be terrible, painful and lethal. 

"Is it really the end?" - thought Shinji bitterly - "After all these fights, it is going to end like this?"

"I love you, Shinji" - Shinji suddenly heard the voice, which sounded like his mother's voice - "And I won't let anything bed happen to you. At last, not now."

'Proceeding with pilot's evacuation immediately. Removing Entry Plug. Evacuation completed.' 

Shinji expected the quick fall, but instead he felt, as remains of EVA-01's AT Field carefully and slowly levitated him to the ground.

Never be separated again

Asuka sat at the ground, near the crushed enemy ship. Asuka replaying scene of the recent bloody murder over and over. 

"I am the monster!" - she thought bitterly - "No wonder, that nobody really liked me! Yeah, they liked to watch me from the distance all right. But as they came to know me better, all of them realized what a monster I am! Only I couldn't see it, until now."

Over and over, Asuka was replaying how she murdered helpless enemy, who was too shocked by his ship's crush to defend himself.

"I don't deserve to live!" - thought Asuka bitterly - "Shinji, Misato, Rei… everybody is dead. Only I, who deserve to live less then any of them still live. Why?!"

And then object came into Asuka's point of view. In astonishment Asuka watched, as Shinji's Entry Plug slowly landed to the ground. And as Asuka watched it, dim, nearly invisible AT Field around it vanished. 

Regaining her senses, Asuka ran toward Shinji's Entry Plug, hoping, that by some miracle he is still alive. As Asuka reached Shinji's Entry Plug and touched it, she realized, that it was just a bit warm, although it should be hot as molten magma after such a long fall. Then, Asuka gathered remains of her strength, and, ignoring terrible pain in her right hand, started to open Shinji's Entry Plug. After a few painful minutes, Asuka finally succeeded in opening Shinji's Entry Plug and opened it, letting LCL fluid to flow out of Shinji's Entry Plug. Then, Asuka get into the Shinji's Entry Plug and found unconscious, but alive Shinji inside. Once again, gathering remains of her strength, Asuka lifted Shinji, and took him from his Entry Plug, thanking god, that Shinji was so light. 

Then, Asuka laid Shinji to the ground not far from his Entry Plug and crushed enemy ship as carefully as she could. And then, Asuka lay on the ground near Shinji and looked into the sky. 

The enemies now finished their work, and the red stream, which Shinji called River of Souls was no more. One by one, enemy ships disappeared into yellow holes in the sky, and holes closed behind them. Soon only one hole was left in the sky, waiting for its ship, but then, it closed as well, realizing that ship will never come. Now only stars and moon left in sky. 

Asuka turned her gaze to Shinji. Right now, Shinji was no longer unconscious, instead he fall into deep rejuvenation sleep. 

"How smart of him" - thought Asuka.

And then, Asuka fall into sleep too…

The Dream

She stood, surrounded by total darkness. Only blood-red oval gemstone, like one, which was in forehead of enemy pilot hovered before her. However, this gemstone was as large as herself.

"I want to merge with you" - said calm emotionless voice. It seemed, that this voice came directly to her mind.

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"I want my soul to become part of your soul"

"But how? And why?"

"I need Master. Somebody to guide me. I have conscious, but I have no will. Without Master, I don't have purpose. Without purpose, I don't exist at all."

"But why should I agree?"

"You will learn. You will have to learn a lot very soon. The many paths are open before you. Accepting my service is only one of them, nothing more. I will not force you to become my Master. I don't want you to become my Master. I don't want anything at all. I just offer you one of the possible resolutions of the current situation."

"But who are you? And how do you know all these?"

"How do I know all these? I know all these, because I read your soul. I know all your desires and fears, all your strengths and weakness. One's soul must be strong to become my Master, and it is part of my work to judge my further Master's soul. In this region of time and space, only you are strong enough to become my Master. As about me, you already know, who I am."

"And what will happen, if when I will agree to become your master?"

"Stupid question. You will become my Master. And I will become your faithful servant, until the end of your days, or until I will be destroyed. Enough questions for now. Soon enough you will have to face a decision, whatever you will become my Master, or whatever you will cast me into oblivion. But right now you need to sleep. Your injuries are very serious, but I could have help you, but if you were my Master. Unfortunately, I can't do anything for you right now. Sleep well, Asuka Langley Sohryu."


	2. Bargain

Bargain 

Author's notes:

Before starting this chapter, I wanted to thank sippio for his/her review. Thank you, sippio!

Morning

Shinji awakened at the warm sand. At first, he wondered where is he, but then events of the previous day, replayed themselves before his eyes, and he remembered, what has happened, what he had done, and were he is now. 

Landscape, which seemed to be almost beautiful in starlight and moonlight looked horrible under the light of the sun. Endless gray wastes were in three directions, and in the fourth direction was endless ocean, which, Shinji now realized, was filled not with water, but with LCL Fluid. 

Then Shinji turned his attention to Asuka, who lay near him, apparently still in a deep sleep. Shinji couldn't remembered, what happened, after his Entry Plug was ejected from EVA-01, so he guessed, that it was Asuka, who took him from his Entry Plug, after he lost his conscious. 

"I won't die… I will kill all of you…" - muttered Asuka, who was still deep in her dreams - "I have failed… no… I am monster…"

After that, to Shinji's great relief, stopped muttering and opened her eyes.

"Ehh… good morning" - said Shinji in uncertain voice.

Asuka slowly stood up, and surveyed the surrounding landscape.

"What a hell?!" - she muttered, then added a bit louder - "Do the whole planet look like this now?"

"I guess" - answered Shinji, and lowered his head. 

"It is my fault of course" - thought Shinji, if I could understand everything a bit earlier, it wouldn't happen. But I was too messed up, and I lied to myself. And here is the result. If I only could…"

"Well" - said Asuka, interrupting Shinji's pessimistic thoughts - "I think we better start moving."

"What?" - asked Shinji - "But where are you planing to go?"

"Any other place will be better then this, I am certain" - said Asuka - "Do you see any food here? Or water? I don't think, that you would be able to drink LCL Fluid."

"Hmm… you are right, I guess" - said Shinji - "But how are you planing to get away from here? I mean, there are all these wastelands around here. I guess, they went for many miles. We will die from thirst and hunger before we will reach any less hostile place."

"In that case" - said Asuka - "We should use this thing."

And Asuka pointed at crushed enemy ship. 

"It is good thing, that you was able to bring at last one of them down" - continued Asuka - "Of course, we won't be able to travel into space with such a hole, but I think, that we can fly in the atmosphere and if we won't flight very fast, then it would be quite safe."

"But do you know how to pilot this ship?" - asked Shinji - "I mean it is alien and all such."

"I don't know" - said Asuka with a twisted smile - "Never try to pilot any aircraft before. It is a good time to start learning, isn't it?"

After that Asuka started to walk toward the enemy ship, without bothering to wait for Shinji's reply. Shinji considered his options for a few seconds, and then hurried after Asuka.

"Well, if it is my fate, to be die with this crazy German girl in air-crash, I mean, in space ship crash" - though Shinji as he tried to catch up with Asuka - "So be it. In that case, I at last won't die alone."

Unpleasant surprise, misunderstandings and regrets

Big and not very pleasant surprise waited for both Asuka and Shinji, when they get into the enemy ship. Asuka's mind had and unique quality of forgetting things, which Asuka didn't wanted to remember. And this thing was one of such things. 

Shinji, who walked into the enemy ship  and passed suddenly still Asuka, was instantly driven speechless by the sight, which opened before his eyes. Mutilated body of dead enemy lay in the corner of the enemy ship.

"What the…" – thought Shinji – "Can it be because of crush, or…"

But Shinji's thoughts were interrupted by Asuka's voice.

"Yes! I know, what you are thinking about!" – shouted Asuka bitterly – "I know, that I am the monster! Now, leave me alone, okay?!"

And after that, Asuka hurried from the enemy ship. Shinji was confused.

"Why did she suddenly started to shout that she is the monster?" – though Shinji – "Oh, she meant that it was she, who killed the enemy? In such brutal way?"

After thinking over all these, Shinji exited the enemy ship, following Asuka. Asuka was nearby, leaning upon the hull of the enemy ship, with an anguish expression on her face.

"She probably needs me" – though Shinji – "She probably needs somebody to help her, to comfort her."

"Hay, Asuka" – said Shinji – "I wanted to…"

But Asuka never allowed him to finish his sentence.

"Just go away!" – said Asuka angrily – "I don't need your help! If you want to do something for me, then just go away. Leave me alone!"

"But, Asuka, I…" – started Shinji, but then memories flooded him once again…

*Flashback*

"I want to do something for you Asuka" – said Shinji – "I want to help you. I want to be with you always."

"Then don't do anything" – said Asuka – "Don't come near me anymore. Because all you ever do is hurt me."

*End of flashback*

"I am sorry, Asuka" – finished Shinji, and walked behind the enemy ship, to let Asuka be alone.

"Why is it always like that with Asuka?" – thought Shinji bitterly – "Why can't she just unburden her mind? And also she is always mocking me, saying, that I can never understand her. How could I possibly understand her, when she is always like that?!"

"Shinji, have you tried to understand her?" – remembered Shinji Rei's question.

"I tried…" – muttered Shinji. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ship, Asuka was also deep in her thoughts…

"Without doubt he now considers me the monster" – thought Asuka bitterly –  "And indeed, I am the monster! I can only fight and kill. And now, when there are no enemies, I have no purpose to exist. I am useless. And because of my uselessness, both of us are doomed to die in these lifeless wastelands. Just because I am not strong enough to save us…"

"…In this region of time and space, only you are strong enough to become my Master…"

"Yeah" – though Asuka – "Maybe I am strong, but what good would all my strength do to us now?.."

"…The many paths are open before you… Soon enough you will have to face a decision, whatever you will become my Master, or whatever you will cast me into oblivion…"

"Yeah" – thought Asuka – "Indeed the many paths are opened before us. But all of them are leading into death. And I don't want to die. Maybe I am the monster, but as long as I take breath, I won't surrender! I will never give up! I will pilot you, Devil Ship, and I will become your Master!"

Decisions are made 

Shinji was completely lost in his thoughts, and was completely unaware about his surrounding, as he once again dived into depths of self-pity. He even lost track of time. But then, familiar mocking voice suddenly awoke him from his self-pity.

"Hay, baka" – said familiar mocking voice – "Are you going to stay here for eternity. We need to make this Devil Ship fly, otherwise we are going to die here. I don't know about you, but personally I am not ready to die yet. So, let's get going."

"But, Asuka, I…" – started Shinji, but as always, Asuka didn't gave him a chance to finish his sentence.

"And don't worry about blood and all such" – said Asuka in casual tone – "I already took care about all these, for I know, how much you hate sight of blood."

After that, without saying anything more, Asuka turned around, and began to walk around the enemy ship, which she called Devil Ship. Shinji didn't had much choice, but to follow her.

Once Asuka and Shinji get inside the Devil Ship, Shinji noticed, that Asuka indeed took away dead body of an enemy, and even washed away most of enemy's blood with LCL Fluid. 

"It all probably wasn't easy for her, with all her injuries and without any tools" – thought Shinji, feeling sting of guilt, because he didn't helped her. 

"Don't stay in the entrance" – said Asuka, interrupting Shinji's thoughts once again – "Get in, or you may fall out, when I'll make this Devil Ship fly."

While Shinji moved as far from hole in the Devil Ship's hull, Asuka began to study contents of the Devil Ship. Well, truth to tell, there weren't anything inside the Devil Ship, which deserved to be called contents. In fact, Devil Ship was almost empty inside, except for two red crystal globes on the two small pedestals, which raised these red crystal globes to the level of average human's torso, but in case with Asuka, these red crystal globes were on same level as her shoulders. The floor, ceiling and walls of the inner room of the Devil Ship were made from same red crystal as these two globes. From the first glance they looked fragile like glass, but Asuka guessed, that this strange red crystal was as strong as steel, and perhaps even stronger.  

Asuka stepped between two pedestals with two red crystal globes, and put her hands on these two red crystal globes.

"What now?" – asked her Shinji

"Yeah, what now?" – thought Asuka – "You said, that I could pilot you, you Devil Ship. Then tell me how. You wanted me to become your Master, didn't you?"

And then, Asuka felt, as if she was falling, falling and falling. Falling deep into the endless darkness…

Bargain 

Once again, she stood, surrounded by total darkness. And once again, only blood-red oval gemstone, like one, which was in forehead of enemy pilot hovered before her. 

"So, you have made a decision" – said calm emotionless voice. As it was before, it seemed, that this voice came directly to her mind.

"Yes, I will become your Master" – said Asuka – "There is no other way."

"There are other ways. Death is also a way, and not the worst way, by all means. But decision was yours to made, and so, I will honor your decision. After this dialogue, you will become my Master. It is also our last dialogue, for when you will become my Master, I will become part of you, and we will never be able to talk again. And now, we will merge into one. Two our souls will become one soul."

"Wait, but I don't know how to pilot you, and about all your time-space things, you spoke of. You must teach me how to pilot you first."

"Don't worry. When we will merge into one, when two our souls will become one soul, you will know everything, you need to know. It would take too much time for me to explain all these complicated things to you, so I will just insert all my knowledge into you. So, are you ready to become one with me?"

"But what will happen to me, after I will become one with you? What about my physical body? You want to say, that my body will merge with the ship?"

"No, don't worry. Your physical body will remain separated from my body. Only our souls will merge into one. And you will not even feel presence of my soul. Our merging will give you ability to control me telepathically, but you will be able to control me telepathically only when you will hold control globes, otherwise you will be unable to control me. It is because of the fact, that our souls are very different, and even though our souls will be united into one soul, you wouldn't be able to fully comprehend my soul, just as I wouldn't be able to fully comprehend your soul. But control globes will establish bond between your souls, and that is how control globes will allow you to control me through your thoughts. That is all, that I can explain to you before you will make a final decision. So, decide now, will you become my Master or not. The choice is yours."

"I will"


	3. Realization of one's powers

Realization of one's powers 

Author's notes:

Before starting this chapter, I wanted to thank Ultima Bigaroh for his extremely positive and inspiring review. Thank you, Ultima Bigaroh!

Oh, and one last thing, before I will start writing this chapter. All dialogue in _italic type_ is alien speech, translated to English language in this story for your understanding, but untranslated to any human language in this story's reality.

Awakening and realization 

And once again Asuka awoke form her sleep at warm sand near the ocean, filled with LCL Fluid. It was clear, that it was already the evening, for sun was setting, coloring the cloudless sky into red colors. She felt, as if something was very wrong with her, but couldn't give a name to this feeling of wrongness. It just felt wrong.

Asuka moved into sitting position, and only then she noticed Shinji, who set on the sand near her. Shinji's eyes were focused on Asuka's face, but as Asuka looked at Shinji, he quickly withdraw his gaze. 

"Is there something wrong with me?" – asked Asuka a bit angrily.

"Hmm…" – answered Shinji, with uncertainty in his voice – "How do you feel Asuka?.. I mean, it was I, who wanted to ask whatever there is something wrong with you…"

"I feel fine" – answered Asuka – "Better then before, anyway. I just got a funny feeling of some kind. I just can give a name t it."

"Hmm… " – said Shinji, still with uncertainty in his voice, for he was greatly surprised, that Asuka claimed, that she felt fine with all her injuries and now with that – "I guess, that all is fine then…"

"Stop that!" – said Asuka, getting even angrier – "I see in your face, that something is wrong with me! Just say it, ok?"

"Well… " – said Shinji, with even more uncertainty in his voice – "I don't really know how to say it…"

"Just say it!"

"Well… you see, there is this thing in your forehead…"

"What thing?!"

 Asuka touched her forehead, and indeed felt, as if some kind of alien thing was put into her forehead.

"What is it?!"

"Well… this thing looks like some kind of red gem. It seemed to be made of same red crystal, as the walls inside this enemy ship, and those red crystal globes, which you tried to hold to pilot enemy ship, so I thought…"

"How does this… thing appeared in my forehead?" – asked Asuka, trying to regain calmness, but with little effect.

"Well… you see, after you grabbed these red crystal globes, trying to pilot this alien ship, you kind of… eh… lost your conscious, but you kept holding these red crystal globes. I tried to get you away from this alien ship, but you kept holding these damned red crystal globes, and I couldn't make you to release your hold, without harming you, so I decided to wait. Then suddenly you released these red crystal globes and fall to the floor of the alien ship. I took you outside as quickly as possible, and laid you here. However next time, when I look at your forehead, this red gem was already in it. I am really sorry, Asuka! I know, I should make you to release your hold on these red crystal globes, but I was afraid to hurt you!"

"Don't worry, Shinji" – said Asuka, calming down a bit – "I guess, that you did it all right after all. I guess, that after all I need this red gem in my forehead to pilot this Devil Ship. And if I won't pilot this Devil Ship, then both of us would be doomed to die in these lifeless wastelands. So, I guess, that neither of us had much choice about this matter."

Shinji looked at Asuka for about a minute, for he didn't know, what to say next.

"Just tell me one thing, Shinji" – said Asuka, as she stood up – "I want to know, whatever this red gem in my forehead suits me, or no?"

"Well" – said Shinji, as he stood up as well – "I guess, that it suits you. Give you such a… hmm… exotic look, that's it."

Asuka looked at him and smiled, for a first time, since she recovered after Third Impact.

"By the way" – said Shinji – "Are you hungry or thirsty, Asuka?"

"Hmm" – said Asuka – "Now when you mention it, not really. Why did you ask?"

"Because unlike you, I am really hungry and thirsty!" – said Shinji a bit angrily – "I don't know, how is it possible for you not to be hungry, but I haven't eat for almost two days now. And only thing to drink here is this damned LCL Fluid. I tried to drink some, but I vomited most of it. And I am not sure, whatever I can bring myself to try to drink it again or not. I have never drink blood, but I guess, that is how blood must taste."  

"Okay" – said Asuka, as she turned in the direction of Devil Ship – "Let's get going then. I think, I will be able to pilot this Devil Ship now."

"By the way, Asuka" – asked Shinji, as he and Asuka started to move toward the Devil Ship – "Why do you keep calling it Devil Ship?"

"And do you remember the nickname, which you and your stooges gave me?" – asked Asuka with a hint of cheerfulness in her voice – "Red Devil, if I remember correctly. This is my ship now, so if I am Red Devil, then it is Devil Ship, right?"

Shinji nodded a bit embarrassed. Of course, it was Toji, who instantly gave Asuka nickname Red Devil, for her red hair, and bad temper. But Shinji had never spoke in defense of his fellow pilot, and now he felt a bit guilty about it.  

Realization of one's powers 

As Asuka and Shinji get inside Devil Ship, Asuka immediately took place between two red crystal globes, but didn't grabbed them yet.

"Hold on!" – said Asuka to Shinji – "I will try to make this thing move."

"Hay, but I don't have anything to hold here" – said Shinji – "How am I suppose to hold on then?"

"Just try not to fall through the hole, ok?" – said Asuka, as she grubbed the red crystal globes, which, as she knew, were supposed to let her fully overtake Devil Ship's functions. 

However, despite all Asuka knew about piloting of Devil Ship, from Devil Ship's own memories didn't prepared her for this. Since Asuka awoke after her last dream, she though, that overtaking Devil Ship's functions would be much like piloting Evangelion. She was wrong. For when she piloted her Evangelion, while she felt everything, her Evangelion felt, she still remained herself. And now she wasn't Asuka any longer. Instead she was the ship. Somewhere in the far corner of her conscious Asuka was still aware about her body, which stood inside her, holding her control globes, but it felt more like it was somebody else's body, not hers. 

"Now, all I need is to move myself" – though Asuka – "But how? Well, at first I must get up, I guess"

And Asuka got up. She jerked upward for about hundred feet, and stopped again, hovering above ground. This sudden jerk thrown Shinji, who had nothing to hold upon, at the Devil Ship's floor. 

"Hay, can you pilot this Devil Ship a bit more carefully, Asuka?" – said Shinji, as he got up.

"What did you expected, baka?!" – heard Asuka distant voice, and suddenly realized, that it was her voice, coming from her real body – "I am still in training!"

"Okay" – thought Asuka – "I have learned how to move myself. Now, I need to get us somewhere, where there will be any food and water. But where should I fly?"

Asuka started to study her surroundings. And it was only then, when she realized, that she could see everything around herself in 360 degree. And this realization made her head spin…

"Stop this, Asuka!" – cried Shinji, as Devil Ship shook violently.

Forcedly Asuka make herself to calm down, calming down the Devil Ship along with her.

"That is progress" – thought Asuka – "At last now I think about this Devil Ship as about separated thing. I must never forget this. I am Devil Ship's pilot, not the Devil Ship itself."

Once again, Asuka started to study her surroundings, this time, controlling herself better. But still, she couldn't see anything, but endless wastelands and endless LCL Fluid, at last not at first. Finally, Asuka was able to spot something far at the west (Asuka knew it was the west, thou she didn't knew how did she knew that, she just knew). It was just a black spot at near the horizon, but at last it was something.

"That is no good" – though Asuka – "I must see it closer"

Then Asuka's view started to move forward, as if her eyes ("Devil Ship's visual sensors" – corrected herself Asuka) were binoculars with zooming. Asuka knew, with hundred percent certainty, that effectually that is how it was, but still for some reason it was hard for her to accept this knowledge. For her to accept this knowledge, was to accept that she was currently a machine, the Devil Ship itself, and Asuka couldn't accept it.

As Asuka's view moved further and further forward, she saw as black spot finally grew into devastated and abandoned city, just as she had suspected. Without even thinking much about it, and about how she was doing it, Asuka immediately returned her view into normal. 

"Well then, I'll be start moving westward" – thought Asuka – "Now!"

Devil Ship suddenly jerked to its left, and Shinji slammed into wall of the ship, opposite to the one he leaned upon.

"Stop that, Asuka!" – cried Shinji – "Are you going to kill me finally?! If you will jerk this damned Devil Ship around like that, I will fall through the hole. Remember, I don't have anything to hold upon."

"If it will go on like that?" – thought Asuka – "He will indeed fall through the hole."

Forcedly Asuka make herself to turn her attention from to her real body.

"You can try to hold these pedestals, you know" – said Asuka – "Just don't you dare to try to hold on to me, or you will risk death, more certain, then falling through the hole! Understood?"

"Yes" – answered Shinji

"Okay then" – said Asuka, and the she once again overtook Devil Ship's functions.

"He have a point" – thought Asuka – "I need to learn to move more carefully."

"Forward" – ordered Asuka to herself – "But slowly"

Indeed, she started to move westward more carefully, slowly gliding through the air. Shinji, who now held two pedestals, as if his life depended upon it (of course, he though, that it was so, for who knew when Devil Ship will get out of Asuka control and jerk sideward, sending Shinji flying right through the hole?), calmed down a bit, but still he couldn't call this flight especially enjoyable. Soon, rhythmic glide of the Devil Ship lulled tired Shinji, sending him into deep sleep. 

On the other hand, Asuka enjoyed the flight to the last bit. Once she finally figured out how to control Devil Ship properly, it seemed for her, that now there weren't anything impossible for her. The only thing, that held her against starting to perform stunts was realization, that Shinji probably won't survive her stunts. Asuka turned her gaze from outside the Devil Ship to inside the Devil Ship, and looked at sleeping Shinji, who was holding the pedestals even in his sleep, even thou there was no need for that not, for now Devil Ship moved calmer and any airplane. 

"He looks so peaceful, when he is asleep" – thought Asuka, and saw, that her real body smiled – "He deserved some rest, especially after all we have passed. And I also can enjoy a peaceful flight."

And so, Asuka continued to enjoy the flight to the last bit, even thou it was more peaceful, then she wanted it to be. Enjoying the flight, Asuka didn't noticed, as she started to glide forward faster and faster, heading toward her destination. Shinji deep in his sleep didn't noticed this as well…

Realization of the losses 

The only light, which filled the small circular room, was dim red light, coming from the very walls of the room, which were made from dark red crystal. Three metallic chairs stood in the room, and three elderly men in dark red robes sat at these chairs, and each of them had red gem in his forehead. But their red gems were dark and lifeless, even thou bond remained, they were too old to control their ships. For even they, whose lifespan was longer then lifespan of the most others race left in this universe, were not immortal.

Suddenly one of the walls produced passage in it, and much younger man in red robes came toward the three sitting men. He had red gem in his forehead, just like the three sitting men, but even thou his red gem was quite dark as well, compared to their gems it looked much brighter, and by all means, not lifeless. Younger man stepped before three sitting men and bent his knees to show his respect for the elders.

_"What knew did you bring us_" – asked one of the sitting men – _"Did your mission succeeded?"_

_"Yes"_ – answered younger man – _"The assignment was successfully completed."_

_"I believe, that as we suspected, you have met no resistance?"_ – asked one of the sitting men.

_"Incorrect"_ – said younger man – _"Apparently natives possessed some kind of automatic defense system, which attacked our fleet, trying to prevent us from fulfilling our duties. But this automatic defense system was quickly dealt with, and we fulfilled our duties without any further disturbing."_

_"Were there any losses?"_ – asked one of the sitting men.

_"Unfortunately, there were"_ – answered younger man – _"We didn't expected to meet any resistance, and our fleet was taken by surprise by this automatic defense system. As result, one of our units was brought down, and crushed the planet Sol Three's surface. We didn't checked the status of unit and its pilot, because successful fulfillment of our mission was our highest objective. It is possible, that unit and its pilot are still functioning . Sending the rescue would seem to be optimal decision." _

_"What unit was it?"_ – asked.

_"Unit one two seven seven one six two"_ – answered younger man.

_"Is it true?"_ – asked one of the sitting men – _"One of the Modified Units was sent for this mission?"_

_"Apparently so"_ – said younger man.

_"But we forbade to use any of Modified Units for any real operation, before all testments would be completed"_ – said one of the sitting men – _"How did it come, that unit one two seven seven one six two was used for this mission?"_

_"It was misunderstanding"_ – answered younger man – _"We have detected energy fault in unit one two seven one two seven five's system, and so, we couldn't use unit one two seven one two seven five for this mission. Unfortunately, it was detected just before operation should be started, so a hastily decision to use unit one two seven seven one six two instead of unit one two seven one two seven five for this mission was made. Unfortunately, due to the haste of decision, it was forgotten that unit one two seven seven one six two was modified by Shadow technology, and wasn't fully tested yet."_

_"Such forgetfulness is unforgivable"_ – said one of the sitting men – _"Yet we have no choice but to forgive it, hoping that in future it will not happen again. You must proceed with rescue operation. Failure is not acceptable."_

_"Failure is not acceptable"_ – agreed younger man – _"And so, unit one two seven seven one six two will be retrieved."_


	4. Pain and departure

Pain and departure 

Author's notes:

Before starting this chapter, I wanted to thank EGBC for his/her review. Thank you, EGBC!

Pain and departure 

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" – heard Shinji familiar voice, and he instantly woke up.

"What has happened?" – asked Shinji, as he looked around – "And where am I?"

When Shinji woke up it was already morning. Shinji woke up at some kind of square with fountain in the middle of it. Fountain itself wasn't working, but still some water remained in fountain pool. Around the square was the city, but just as fountain, the city looked broken and abounded. 

"You fall asleep during our flight" – informed him Asuka – "Fortunately for you, I flew you here very carefully, so you managed not to fall out of the Devil Ship. As a matter of fact, I have saved your life once again, since I believe, that there is a lot of food and water in here, and as I remember, you was hungry and thirsty…"

But Shinji didn't bothered himself to listen until the end. Shinji run to the fountain pool, cupped his hands, scooped a little water and drank it. Asuka looked at Shinji with hint of worry on her face. She knew, that she should be as hungry and thirsty as Shinji was, but for some reason, Asuka didn't felt either hunger or thirst. At first Asuka thought, that she was just too tired to think about hunger or thirst, but now she realized that it was something different. 

From memories of the Devil Ship, Asuka knew everything about how to pilot Devil Ship properly, everything about traveling through Hyperspace and so on… in short, Asuka knew all technical aspects of piloting Devil Ship. However, Asuka didn't knew anything about results of her symbiosis with the Devil Ship, and this lack of knowledge have already started to worry her.

"Hay, Asuka?" – interrupted Asuka's thoughts Shinji.

"Yes, what is it?" – asked Asuka.

"I was just a bit worried about you" – said Shinji – "Have you drank already?"

"Um, no" – said Asuka – "I have already told you, that I am not thirsty."

"What is wrong with you, Asuka?" – asked Shinji with concern in his voice – "You haven't been same, since you awoken with this red gem in your forehead. Are you going to die from thirst and hunger?"

"No, of course not, baka!" – answered Asuka a bit angrily.

"Then you should drink some water" – said Shinji – "Hell, you didn't drink and eat for two days now, and you claim that you are neither hungry or thirsty! What is wrong with you, Asuka?"

"Nothing" – said Asuka, calming down – "But, I guess, I could drink a bit after all."

After Asuka took a drink from fountain pool, she suddenly reached for bandage over her injured left eyes, and tore it away. After that, Asuka opened her left eye, which appeared completely unharmed.

"Ah" – said Asuka – "It is good to see with both eyes again!"

"Um, Asuka" – said Shinji, looking at Asuka with surprise upon his face – "I thought, that your left eye was seriously injured. How did it happen, that it is okay now?"

"Well" – said Asuka uncertainly – "I guess, it just wasn't as bad, as it appeared from the first glance."

"Um, maybe so" – said Shinji uncertainly.

"What is wrong with you, Asuka?" – thought Shinji – "Just a day before yesterday you could barely move and talk. And now, you look completely healthy, and you are not either hungry or thirsty, despite the fact, that you haven't eaten or drink for two days. What is wrong with you, Asuka?"

But of course, neither Asuka nor Shinji knew, what was going on with Asuka, and this fact troubled both of them. 

"Okay" – said Asuka after a short pause – "We better start searching for some food. I feel like I could use some."

And they started to walk through the city. The city looked deserted, and the whole street before them looked like one big car-crush. Shinji imagined, how cars crushed into each other at top speed, when all people were gone, and this though make him shiver. Needless to say, Asuka and Shinji had troubles passing through car-filled street.

"Maybe we better chose another street" – said Shinji – "What do you think, Asuka?"

"I think, it won't make any difference" – said Asuka – "The whole city is deserted and devastated. I wonder what has happened here."

"What, you don't…" – started Shinji, but Asuka interrupted him, before he had finished his sentence.

"Let's save talk for later, ok?" – said Asuka – "You will explain everything to me later. First of all, we should get some food and eat. After drinking, I started to feel kind of hungry too. Well, anyway here it is"

And Asuka pointed to the small shop across the street. Neither Asuka nor Shinji could read the sign, but picture of cooked turkey above the sign clearly marked the shop as either food shop or some kind of small restaurant. 

With some difficulty Asuka and Shinji made their way across the street to the shop, walking over crashed cars. Without much surprise, Shinji noticed that Asuka made her way across the street much easier then him, and, as Shinji suspected, much easier then she would do it some months ago, despite her recent injuries. It seemed, that Asuka wasn't just recovering her strength, she was gaining strength.  

Eventually, Asuka and Shinji reached the shop, which turned out to be a small fast food shop. Fortunately for Asuka and Shinji the door wasn't closed. Without doubt, Third Impact catch inhabitants of this city in the middle of a busy day. 

Shinji quickly helped himself to the can of Coca-Cola and a packet of chips. Asuka also helped herself to the can of Sprite and a packet of chips, but she ate and drank with visibly less hunger and thirst then Shinji. Not that Shinji noticed it, for he was too busy with consuming his food and drink.

After almost an hour, Shinji was finally satisfied, after he ate eight packets of chips and drank five cans of Coca-Cola. On the other hand, Asuka satisfied herself with much less amount of food and drink – with only one packet of chips and only one can of Sprite. 

"Well now" – said Asuka after Shinji finished eating and drinking – "I think it is time for you to tell me, what has really happened back then."

"You mean, you don't remember?" – asked Shinji – "About Third Impact and all?"

"No really" – answered Asuka

"Not really?" – asked Shinji – "Do you remember nothing at all? Or do you remember at last something?"

"Well, I remember only some separated images and feelings, but I can weave them into whole picture" – answered Asuka – "I remembered it quite clearly since my awakening from come, the battle against Mass Production Evangelions and all… but then, after they hit me with all their lances…"

"Asuka, you don't need to tell it, if it pains you" – said Shinji.

"Don't worry, it is okay with me" – said Asuka – "You know, I have this kind of strange feeling, like all of it happened not with me, but with some kind of other person. So, it doesn't pains me at all. But even if it would pain me, I am not running from my pain as you are."

"Do you really think so?" – thought Shinji, but didn't said anything aloud.

"Anyway" – continued Asuka – "Just after they hit me with all their lances, everything became kind of blurred. I don't remember anything exactly, just that someone or something was trying to force me doing something, I didn't wanted to do. I cried and struggled, and then everything was… I don't know how to put it… like shattered. And then, I awoke on the beach, with you trying to strangle me."

"I… I didn't meant to do it!" – said Shinji guiltily.

"I know" – answered Asuka gently – "You must have been as broke as I was after all these. Well, now you was going to tell me, what has really happened during the Third Impact."  

"Well" – said Shinji – "I guess, I am not prepared to tell you everything, I guess, I will never be prepared to tell you everything about Third Impact, but you see, it was all my fault…"

"Of course it was your fault" – said Asuka – "You didn't helped me to defeat Mass Production Evangelions. And it was probably only time when I really needed your help. If only you would hold them for at last half a minute, I would be able to insert another energy cable, and everything would be okay. But you didn't do that. But still, I kind of forgave you for that."

"It is not just it" – said Shinji lowering his head – "You see, even after you was defeated, there was still chance to make everything okay. But I kind of wished for Third Impact to happen…"

"What?!" – interrupted him Asuka – "You wished for Third Impact to happen?! But Third Impact was end to everything!"

"Well, not exactly" – said Shinji – "But it was a close thing. Anyway the whole world was devastated, when Third Impact took place. I think, that whole Japan was totally destroyed, and now Ocean of LCL Fluid is in the place, where Japan was. But anyway, in the end I realized that Third Impact was a wrong thing, and wished for all people to come back. But the world remained devastated. In the end, all people would make in back, and everything would be okay, if only these aliens wouldn't appear, and wouldn't steal souls of all humans. I guess, we just made it back faster then everyone else, and so we are still alive. But everyone else is still must be in this neither living nor dead condition, and so…"

"I can't believe it!" – shouted Asuka, interrupting Shinji – "I fought, I suffered, and then you just threw away everything, I fought and suffered for! Just like that, as if didn't worth anything! You are disgusting! I hate you! It would be better, if I wouldn't save you at all! It would be better if you wouldn't be born at all!"

After that, Asuka stood up and smacked Shinji hard into abdomen, driving air out of him and crushing him into the wall. After that Asuka ran outside of the shop, ignoring Shinji's moaning. After about ten minutes Shinji has finally recovered from Asuka's blow. Shinji felt, that Asuka was becoming stronger, but he never thought, that she would become that strong. And now Shinji get a chance to experience all Asuka's new strength personally. Barely Shinji made his way to the outside of the shop, only to see Devil Ship, as it slowly rose above devastated city and then rushed forward, heading straight toward the north. Asuka has left. 


	5. Arrival and unpleasant encounter

Arrival and unpleasant encounter 

Author's notes:

First of all, I would like to say sorry to those few people, who were reading this story of mine, and who were enjoying this story of mine, for it took me an enormous amount of time to write the next chapter of this story of mine. I don't have much time to write or even read fanfiction nowdays, and besides, this story is starting to get a bit tricky to write. But nevertheless, don't expect me to give up, people, for I will continue writing this story of mine, as well as some others stories of mine, you can count on that!

As before, all dialogue in _italic type_ is alien speech, translated to English language in this story for your understanding, but untranslated to any human language in this story's reality.

Arrival and unpleasant encounter 

Upset Shinji returned to the food shop to take a little rest. And so, Shinji didn't noticed, as small yellow spot appeared in the sky…

_"It is here"_

_"Are you sure, Lady Malindra?"_

_"Yes, I am absolutely sure"_

_"Very well, prepare to open portal into the normal space. Is everything ready for jump?"_

_"Yes, Captain"_

_"Jump!"_

_Large yellow hole appeared in the space at some distance from Earth, and space ship appeared from the hold. This space ship was much larger, then space ships, which appeared near the Earth before, and without doubt was of a different design. Unlike others space ships, this space ship had wings, most likely to enhance atmospheric maneuverability. _

_"Jump completed. We have entered the normal space."_

_"Confirm our location"_

_"Wait a minute, I need to consult with navigation computer…"_

_"It is the Sol system"_

_"…Yes, as Lady said, it is the Sol system"_

_"Any presence of possible aggressors?"_

_"Negative, Captain… wait there is something! We detect small cluster of unidentified ships near the seventh planet of the Sol system."_

_"Did they notice us?"_

_"Negative, Captain. Or at last if they noticed us, they don't show it."_

_"Apparently our Stealth Field is working"_

_"What are your further orders, Lady Malindra?"_

_"Enter atmosphere of the third planet. I need to see everything with my own eyes. I can't trust the monitors."_

_"Do as Lady Malindra orders"_

_"Yes, Captain"_

_"Activate anti-atmospheric field"_

_"Done"_

_"Initiate descend. Angle thirty degree. Cruising speed."_

_"Descend has been initiated."_

_"We will enter atmosphere of the planet Sol 3 in sixty seconds… fifty seconds… forty seconds… thirty seconds… twenty seconds… ten seconds… nine seconds… eight seconds… seven seconds… six seconds… five seconds… four seconds… three seconds… two seconds… one second… We have successfully entered atmosphere of the planet Sol 3."_

_"Distance from the planet Sol 3's surface is one thousand and five hundred feet." _

_"What are your further orders, Lady Malindra?.. Lady Malindra, what is wrong? Please respond, Lady Malindra!"_

_"Captain, we have just detected malfunctions in zones Alpha, Beta and Gamma!"_

_"Captain, we are slowing down. We are continuing to move toward the planet Sol 3's surface mechanically. Distance from the planet Sol 3's surface is one thousand and four hundred feet."_

_"What is going on, Captain?"_

_"Lady Malindra, please respond! What is goin on, Lady Malindra? Respond please!"_

_"Rage… Hatred… Death…"_

_"What does it mean, Lady Malindra?"_

_"I have… encountered… another will… that's why… I… can't control…"_

_"Captain, our Stealth Field is down along with all our others offensive and defensive systems!"_

_"Captain, do I need to remind you, that we have only one fighter?!"_

_"Captain, if we will be attacked right now, we will be helpless as newborns!"_

_"Lady Malindra, please tell us, what should we do?"_

_"Send my daughter… away… with your son… quickly… she… is coming…"_

_"What do you…"_

_"Do it, Captain!"_

_"Ensign Sandro, you are to take Lady Millie aboard Stiletto, and…"_

_"Captain, unidentified object is approaching from the third planet's surface!"_

_"It is moving with ramming speed, and it is set on the collision course!"_

_"Our Stealth Field as well as all our others offensive and defensive systems are still shows no signs of functioning!"_

_"Captain, we are completely defenseless!"_

_"Lady Malindra?.."_

_"Coming… she is coming…"_

_"Dammit! Don't just sit there! Order investigation and repairs to be initiated immediately!"_

_"Already done…"_

_"…But with no result…_

_"…So far, at least…"_

_"…It will surely take time…"_

_"We don't have much time, dammit! Ensign Sandro, why are you still here?!"_

_"But…"_

_"Take Lady Millie to the third planet's surface immediately!"_

_"But…"_

_"Do it, dammit!"_

_"Yes, sir!"_

_"And… good luck to you, boy."_

Just two of us 

The young man sat in the pilot's chair in the cockpit of the starfighter known as Stiletto. He was dressed in black military uniform with stripes of Ensign of Centauri Space Forces. In all respects, the young man looked to be completely human, except that his black hair was set into a strange hairstyle, which looked liked a rather short crest. The young man looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, hardly more. He would be rather attractive, if he wouldn't have such a gloomy expression upon his face.

The young woman sat in the co-pilot's chair in the cockpit of the starfighter known as Stiletto, besides the young man. She looked to be slightly older then the young man, somewhere around eighteen or nineteen years old, probably even as much as twenty years old. She had quite attractive face, but her overall appearance was rather spoiled by the fact that her head was completely bold with exception of a single lock of chestnut brown hair at the back of the young woman's head. In addition to gloomy and worried expression upon the young woman's face, this fact didn't make the young woman look especially attractive, at least by human standards. The young woman was dressed in simple but still elegant black dress, which didn't especially suited somebody sitting in starfighter co-pilot's chair.

Set to the autopilot, the starfighter known as Stiletto glided freely towards the ground, where some kind of rather large city could be visible. However, both the young man and the young woman looked at the screen, which was showing the situation above the Stiletto, rather then at the screen, which was showing the situation bellow the Stiletto. At the screen, which was showing the situation above the Stiletto, the larger ship was still visible, helplessly hanging in the air, with the much smaller object quickly approaching it. A few second later the huge explosion covered the whole screen, which was showing the situation above the Stiletto. The young man sighed and turned the screen, which was showing the situation above the Stiletto off.

_"They are all dead, aren't they?"_ asked the young woman sadly.

_"Unless they have found some way to launch escape pods…"_ muttered the young man gloomy, realizing how unlikely such possibility was.

Unfortunately the young man's companion realized this as well.

_"I fear, that with mother in such a pain it would be impossible."_ said the young woman sadly _"We are lucky that they were able to launch this ship at least, otherwise…"_ the young woman left the sentence unfinished.

_"Do you know what is the reason for all of this, Lady Millie?"_ asked the young man _"Fa… Captain told me nothing about what are we supposed to do down there."_

_"I do not know anything either."_ replied the young woman _"I guess, mother just wanted for me to survive, for I do not know what can possibly be done now. I don't suppose Stiletto will be able to take us back to Centauri Prime, will it?"_

_"No, it won't."_ replied the young man gloomy _"Stiletto is rather advanced starfighter, but it still isn't equipped with hyperspace portal generator. And for some reason I really doubt that we will be able to find an active hyperspace portal anywhere near the Sol system."_

_"So it is just two of us now, isn't it?"_ asked the young woman – Lady Millie sadly.

_"Yeah, just two of us."_ replied the young man.

Author's notes:

I am sorry again, people, for this chapter was rather short. But unfortunately, that's all I could manage so far. I cannot promise to you, people,  to write the next chapter for this story of mine anytime soon, for I have a lot of others things to do, not just writing and reading fanfiction. But I can certainly promise to you, people, that I will write the next chapter for this story of mine as soon as I will be able to. Oh, and keep in mind, people, that the good and positive reviews usually motivate me to write much faster, while negative and critical reviews can possibly help me to improve my writing skills. So, if you have half a minute to drop me a few lines, please, do so! I appreciate all the reviews and all the reviewers, for reviews make me feel like at least some people reading this story of mine, and needless to say, this makes me feel oh so very happy!


	6. The limits of one's powers

**The limits of one's power** Author's Notes:  Galandria the Vampire Queen, even though I very thankful for you for dropping a few lines to me in your review, I must say that review isn't the place to advertise others stories, and besides, you won't get much of a advertisement in reviews for my stories anyway, since only few people seem to read my stories, and even fewer people bother to review my stories. I just hope, that you at least read this story of mine before posting this review of yours, but considering the contents of this review of yours, I seriously doubt it.   

Anyway, exactly as it was before, all the dialogue in _italic type_ is alien speech, translated to English language in this story for your understanding, but untranslated to any human language in this story's reality.

Flying Away 

The sensation of flying was unlike anything she has ever experienced before! Landscape, which rushed by bellow her… The dark skies above her… The sensation of swift wind, which blown straight into her front her, gently tickling her skin… All of it was simply wonderful, and she has never even dreamed of anything like this!

The only thing that was darkening the pleasure of flying was an unpleasant and annoying sensation in her left side… not exactly a pain, more like a feeling that not everything was as good as it used to be. But she closed her eyes on that feeling, in time, she would find some way to recover completely, she was sure of it.

She didn't cared much about choosing the direction, for her all the directions were more or less the same thing and none of them had any reasons to be more important then the others… except for one – the southeast. The direction, where he has been left behind…

"Stupid Baka!" – thought Asuka angrily – "Weak-willed spineless baka! Why did he do something like that to me?! In fact, not just to me, but to the whole humanity! Well, I'll be better off without him! He is just a hindrance anyway, nothing more! This stupid…"

It is unclear for how long Asuka would continue to think such thoughts, if something else wouldn't attract her attention…

"Hyperspace jump detected." – thought Asuka, surprising herself with such a strange thought.

But in the next moment Asuka realized what this strange thought of hers meant, for in the next moment Asuka saw three yellowish holes opening in the air right above her. And in the next moment three silhouettes, much like Asuka herself, appeared from these yellowish holes, and the yellowish holes immediately closed behind these silhouettes.

Abnormality Discovered 

Everything was proceeding as it was supposed to. Until now, that's it. And this was disturbing. Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two wasn't supposed to be able to move, not without the pilot. And the death of the one from the order is something that is always felt, without any exceptions. So, how?..

_"Awaiting further orders."_ – two voices spoken simultaneously in his mind.

_"This is abnormal situation, which wasn't foreseen by the plan."_ – he replied – _"And so, the contact should be established."_

Contact

Asuka warily watched three others ships, 'units', as she called them in her mind, slowly descending and thus approaching her. And then Asuka suddenly hear a strange and alien voice speaking in her mind. At first, Asuka though that she doesn't know the language, on which this voice has spoken, but then Asuka suddenly realized, that she could easily understand every word, as if it was spoken in her native German language. And needless to say, this fact greatly surprised and disturbed Asuka. Disturbed her almost as much as what this strange and alien voice was saying.

_"Unit one two eight two one four nine to Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two, please respond. Unit one two eight two one four nine to Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two, please respond."_ – was saying this strange and alien voice.

_"Yes, what is it?"_ – replied Asuka, not really knowing how she was supposed to reply properly.

Asuka didn't even though about on which language she should reply to this strange and alien voice, she simply spoke, and just knew that she and the owner of this strange and alien voice were speaking on the same language, whatever this language is.

_"Report the situation, Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two."_ – said the strange and alien voice.

_"Ummm… Everything is okay. Nothing to report."_ – replied Asuka nearly automatically. 

And only after saying so, Asuka realized, that it was a very stupid thing to, considering the situation during which she first seen… this ship?.. It wasn't she, but the ship?

_"I have completely recovered by now."_ – hastily added Asuka, deciding to sort out who is who and what is what after the things will get a little easier.

But Asuka received no reply…

Discussion

_"Something is definitely wrong with Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two."_ – he said, addressing two units that were accompanying him, not the strangely acting Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two – _"Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two breaks standard speech patterns during the replies. Furthermore, there seem to be a hint of something strange in Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two's replies. It is believed, that some of the lesser races call this thing 'uncertainness' or something like that."_

_"Unit one two eight two one four nine, will it be necessary to invoke the capture procedure?"_ – asked one of two units that were accompanying him.

_"It is believed that it won't be necessary."_ – replied Unit one two eight two one four nine – _"It is believed, that the possibility that Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two will accompany us and obey our orders is highly likely. And besides, it is believed, that even if it is just one of our units, unnecessary violence is strictly forbidden."_

The limits of one's power

For a short period of time Asuka didn't know whether they choose to leave her alone, or whether she is better to prepare herself for the worst, but then the strange and alien voice spoke again, and this time Asuka didn't liked what it was saying even more intensively.

_"Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two, you were decided to be malfunctioning, and it is necessary to return to the base at Palesus One as soon as possible. The Mothership five two six nine eight eight will be called here to ensure your safe delivery to Palesus One."_ – said the voice from Unit one two eight two one four nine.

"That's the end of negotiations." – though Asuka gloomy – "I cannot allow them to take me with them, for this way they will certainly find out what has really happened, and then I will be as good as dead."

_"No."_ – simply replied Asuka to Unit one two eight two one four nine.

_"What did you say?"_ – came the question from the voice from Unit one two eight two one four nine.

With a certain pleasure, Asuka noticed, that the voice sounded rather surprised. It certainly wasn't the kind of answer, for which the owner of this voice was prepared for.

Asuka didn't wait for the owner of this voice to get over his (for as far as Asuka could judge, the owner of this voice was a male) surprise, or to ask what did she meant by that. Asuka acted, for she knew that she could possibly use her enemy's surprise as her advantage, and Asuka also knew, that in this combat she would need all the advantages she would be able to get.

Somehow, Asuka knew exactly was she was capable of, and some kind of inner feeling was telling her, that she wouldn't be able to deal with these enemies just as she dealt with her previous enemy. No, these enemies were too similar to her, and attempting to slice through them would be a disaster. But Asuka also knew, that she had others means to attack in her disposal, even though they weren't as effective as simply but effective slicing through her enemies.

And so, Asuka suddenly blackened up, adjusting so that all the three enemies of hers would be in her firing arc, and released a series of red energy rays into her enemies…

…But, whether Asuka's aim was far from being perfect, or whether her enemies were much more skilled pilots then Asuka was; but, all the three enemy units easily dodge Asuka's fire…

"I have never been in aerial combat before" – mentally screamed a part of Asuka's consciousness…

But Asuka instantly dismissed this part…

"What I am thinking about?!" – though Asuka then – "Of course, I have been in many combat both in the space and in the planets' atmosphere!.. Or… Have I?.."

Confused by her thoughts, Asuka completely failed to notice, as all the three enemy units took position directly above her once again, and released the series of red energy beams of their own…

…Most of which hit unprepared Asuka…

"Energy shields down to fifty five percent." – automatically thought Asuka – "Minor armor damages detected. No structure damages detected. No system damages detected."

"Verdamt!" – though Asuka then.

Asuka tried to swiftly move to the right… 

…But all the three enemy units smoothly followed Asuka's move, forming a triangle above her. And Asuka knew, that in their current position directly above her, there was no way for her to attack them. No, she would have to shake them off first… But how?

_"As you can see, Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two, any resistance is utterly and completely useless."_ – came the same voice to Asuka – _"It is unknown what is going on, but we are determined to find it out, and to help you in any way we can. However, should you continue to resist, we will be forced to completely and utterly destroy you, Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two. Is it understood, Modified Unit one two seven seven one six two?"_

_"But, I…"_ – started to reply Asuka, who wasn't sure that she would be able to at least do any harm to these enemies of hers, let alone defeat and destroy them.

However, before Asuka was able to finish her reply, she saw as something like enormous black flower blossomed in the sky above both her and her enemies. In the next moment, Asuka realized, that this wasn't a flower at all, but a large spaceship, and that it looked more like a spider then like a flower.

Asuka's enemies too apparently seen the black spider-like spaceship appearing above them, but apparently they have seen it too late to do anything about it. For in the next moment, three dark purple energy beams shot from the black spider-like spaceship. And each of these dark purple energy beams hit each of Asuka's enemy ships, passing each of them through, a causing each of them to crush into the ground, where each of them was gone in a huge explosion.

For some while Asuka remained motionless. Whoever… Whatever this black spider-like spaceship was, Asuka was completely sure, that it would be able to deal with her just as easily as it dealt with her enemies.

And then suddenly Asuka heard a distant gentle voice, speaking in her native German language.

"Asuka, come over here."

"Mommy?"

Author's Notes:

I hope, people, that this chapter was a bit longer for your liking then the previous one. Anyway, please, people, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines, please, do so! I appreciate all the reviews and all the reviewers, for reviews make me feel like at least some people reading this story of mine, and needless to say, this makes me feel oh so very happy! However, please, people, avoid using the review options only to advertise others stories, for this makes me feel like people are reviewing this story of mine without even reading it, and besides, as I have already told you, you won't get much of a advertisement in reviews for my stories anyway, since only few people seem to read my stories, and even fewer people bother to review my stories. Anyway, I will try to write the next chapter of this story of mine as soon as possible, but I cannot promise anything. Oh, and keep in mind, people, that the good and positive reviews usually motivate me to write much faster, while negative and critical reviews can possibly help me to improve my writing skills. So, I'll repeat myself, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines, please, do so!


	7. Embracing the Shadows

**Embracing the Shadows**

Author's Notes:

First of all, I would like to say sorry to everybody, who have been waiting for a new chapter of this story of mine, for it took me quite a long time to write this new chapter of this story of mine, to speak more precisely, almost a month and a half.

Second, I would like to thank RichardRahl for his very pleasant and inspiring review! Thank you oh so very much, RichardRahl! I am truly happy to know that at least some people are reading this story of mine, and I am even happier to know that at least one of these people decided to drop me a few lines in his review! I will try to write as fast as I can, but I cannot promise anything, since I have a lot of others things to do besides writing the fanfiction stories, even though I enjoy writing the fanfiction stories very much. Thank you very much once again, RichardRahl!

Third, I would also like to thank mimi6 for her pleasant and inspiring review! Thank you oh so very much, mimi6! I have recently read one of the stories of yours, mimi6, the one about Mr. Bester and Dr. Lecter, and found it quite good, especially since I am quite a fan of Dr. Lecter. So, keep up your good writing, mimi6!

By the way, I must say that I have a bit of an author's block with two others unfinished stories of mine – "Enemies of Apocalypse" and "NGE: No Need For Duty". So, for now, I think, that I will focus most of my attention on this story of mine. However, I have not forsaken any of my others unfinished stories, and eventually all of them will be updated sooner or later, and in some possibly quite distant future them will most likely be completed. And also I am hatching plans about starting to write another story of mine, but I am not really sure when exactly I will start to write another story of mine, of course if I will start to write another story of mine at all.

Okay, and now, without further ado, let this story continue!

Embracing the Shadows

A short while later, Asuka found herself standing in the rather large dark room. Despite its rather large size, this room appeared to be completely empty, except for Asuka herself, of course. However, she could almost feel…

"Come out, Asuka."

…The presence of another living being!

"Mommy!"

Asuka could now see her mother standing on the floor, dressed in beautiful red dress and looking exactly as Asuka remembered her. However, looking at her mother, Asuka started to realize that something wasn't right… Something about herself…

"Came out? What do you mean, mommy?"

"You are in the spaceship right now, Asuka. I don't fully understand what has happened with you, but it appears that this spaceship is a part of you right now, or should I say that you are the part of this spaceship right now?"

"But, mommy, what can I do about it?"

"I believe that if you will concentrate on who you really are, or precisely speaking on who you were, you will be able to become yourself once again. But for how long, I cannot say. We haven't understood what Soul Hunters did with you and this spaceship yet."

"We? Soul Hunters?"  
Asuka's mother simply smiled.

"The answers will come later. Now I believe that you should try to become yourself once again. You can do it, Asuka."

Asuka nodded… And almost instantly realized what she has just done! She shook her head, blinked… And suddenly found herself standing inside Red Devil, her spaceship, with her hands still placed upon the red crystal orb. Asuka hastily removed her hands from the red crystal orb and let out a sigh of relief. Then a triumphant smile appeared on Asuka's face.

"Well, that was easy!" – though Asuka triumphant, and then said aloud, addressing the Red Devil – "Never forget who is the master here!"

Even if Red Devil was able to hear her, it didn't answer her.

Taking Red Devil's silence as a sign of submission, Asuka walked out of Red Devil, as usually simply using the hole in its side instead of tying to find a more civilized doorway. Once outside Asuka immediately rushed to her mother, intending to finally hug her…

"STOP! DON'T DO THIS!"

The commanding power within the was so great, that Asuka couldn't help but to stop when she has almost reached her mother. But this time, her mother didn't sound like herself as all…

"I am sorry, Asuka." – said her mother, more gently this time, and sounding more like her usual self this time – "But this is something you cannot do."

"But why, mommy?" – asked Asuka, sounding deeply hurt.

"Just trust me, Asuka." – replied Asuka's mother, smiling to Asuka gently.

"Okay." – agreed Asuka, still sounding a little bit unsurely.

Even though her judgement was greatly clouded by the shock from beginning of realizing that something strange was going on with her and Red Devil, as well as even greater shock from actually meeting her mother, Asuka was also beginning to realize that something was greatly wrong about this whole situation. But Asuka almost immediately pushed all such thoughts aside; she was with her mother right now, and this was all that mattered!

"I think that you should rest now, Asuka." – said Asuka's mother, still smiling to Asuka gently – "And while you will be resting, the others will take care about your spaceship."

"The others?" – asked Asuka.

"They are our friends, our allies." – replied Asuka's mother, still smiling to Asuka gently – "You will not be able to see them, but they will do their best to assist us."

"That's what you meant when you said 'we', didn't you?" – asked Asuka, still trying her best to understand the situation, at least as much as she could understand this strange situation at all.

"Yes." – replied Asuka's mother, nodding to Asuka and still smiling to Asuka gently.

"And who are these Soul Hunters you were also talking about?" – asked Asuka.

"They are the ones who…" – Asuka's mother paused for a few moments, and then asked – "They captured all the other people from your planet, didn't they?"

"Yes, except for me and… that Shinji-baka!" – replied Asuka, almost spitting out Shinji's name.

"Hmmm… how interesting." – said Asuka's mother, smiling once more – "You would like this Shinji to be here as well, wouldn't you?"

"No, of course I wouldn't!" – replied Asuka hastily and with a hint of anger in her voice – "Why would I want this baka to be here, especially after he made a total mess out of everything I fought for?!"

"As you wish then, Asuka." – said Asuka's mother, still smiling to Asuka – "Follow me then. I will show you a room where you will be able to rest."

Asuka followed her mother out of hangar, and then through the corridors of this spaceship. They walked in silence, as Asuka couldn't think of anything to ask. Well, in fact Asuka had quite a few questions in her mind, but she was afraid of even thinking about these questions, let alone asking them. Usually Asuka was proud of not being afraid of anything, or at least she thought so, but now Asuka feared that if she would ask some of these forbidden questions, everything could disappear like a dream it possibly was.

Eventually, Asuka and her mother came into the room, which apparently was going to be Asuka's. The room was very simply, with a bed, metal table and a single chair as the only furniture. Everything was steel gray in color, except for white bedclothes. And so, most people would possibly find such room somewhat unpleasant. But Asuka was used to this kind of rooms during all the years, which she has spent while she was being trained by NERV. So, she didn't bothered to complain, especially since she realized that any complains would possibly be fruitless.

As they walked into Asuka's new room, Asuka's mother remained standing near the doorway, while Asuka herself walked to the bed, moving more upon pure instinct rather then rational thinking, and sat down upon the bed. And as soon as Asuka sat down upon the bed, she realized how tired se actually felt. But still, despite all her tiredness, Asuka has found enough strength in her to stand up and to quickly strip off her plugsuit, throwing it careless to the floor afterwards. Then Asuka lay down upon her bed once more.

"Sleep well, Asuka." – said Asuka's mother, smiling to Asuka gently once again – "This day was certainly tiresome for you, but I would like to let you know, that you have done a very good thing today."

"A very good thing?.." – muttered Asuka tiredly.

*The Beginning of Flashback*

She flew forward and away, without bothering about the choice of the direction. She was already regretting that she didn't kill him. God knew, she was going to do it, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it for some reason. And this was angering her almost as much as what he had told her. And then, she felt another's presence. For a moment it was even able to interrupt Asuka's grim thoughts, as it felt very strange indeed; it felt, as if somebody was trying to make a contact with her, but silently, without words, only with emotions. 

But then, Asuka's initial surprise was quickly gone, and Asuka once again remembered all the pain and hatred that she felt. The only thing that she needed right now was to let her rage out upon somebody, and now she realized, that she has just found this 'somebody'. Asuka couldn't fully understand the mental link, which has been established between her and the other person, and yet she somehow knew that she will be able to use it as her advantage, that she will be able to use it to both cripple the other person and to find this other person's location. And so, Asuka unleashed all the pain and hatred that she felt upon this other person, and she could feel this other person cringe in pain. And then, Asuka had absolutely no troubles of following the link towards the other person's location, until she saw a spaceship a few times larger then Asuka was, where the other person doubtless was located.

Even though the other spaceship was a few times larger then Asuka was, Asuka suspected that it wouldn't be able to do anything about her, as the other person still continued to cringe in pain.

"That's right!" – though Asuka with no small pride – "Not many can bear as much pain as I bears! Well, now I'll show them!"

Asuka knew herself very well by now, and so, she quickly thought of both safe and effective way to deal with her enemy. Asuka knew, that this system wasn't originally designed to kill, it was designed to allow the spaceship that was equipped with it to easily cut through any barriers, when it was necessary in order to reach destination. However, the designers unwittingly created one of the most powerful offense systems in the universe, and now Asuka was going to take the full advantage of it!

Asuka accelerated and bolted towards the other spaceship, and after a few seconds struck it. But there were no impact, instead, Asuka simply cut her way through the other spaceship just as a hot knife cuts through butter. The only thing that was darkening the situation was an unpleasant sensation in Asuka's left side, which reminded her that she was still damaged, and that it probably wasn't especially wise of her to cut through the other ship with such damages as hers.

However, after a couple of more seconds Asuka made it through the enemy ship, and was pleased to notice that no serious additional damages were done to her already damaged left side. But all the thoughts of damages were forgotten as Asuka heard a sound of a huge explosion from behind of her, and saw this huge explosion itself too. Asuka felt somewhat empty, as she saw the explosion dying down, but at least, the pain and hatred seemed to be gone as well, for now at least.

And so, Asuka put away these thoughts, and concentrated on the pleasure of flying instead. She didn't bother where she was flying to; she enjoyed flying, and that was all that mattered right now… 

*The End of Flashback*

"A very good thing?.." – muttered Asuka tiredly once again.

"Yes, you did a very good thing today, Asuka." – said Asuka's mother once again, smiling to Asuka gently.

"Was it really a good thing?" – asked Asuka, sounding a little bit unsure about that.

"How did you felt after that, Asuka?" – asked Asuka's mother.

"I felt… somewhat empty… but…"

"But you also felt better, didn't you, Asuka."

"Yes. I guess, that I felt better after that."

"Then it was a good thing that you have done, wasn't it, Asuka?"

"I guess so…" – said Asuka, still soundings a little bit unsure about that.

Asuka wasn't really sure what to think about that anymore, but if mommy was saying that she did a good thing, then it was probably so…

"Sleep well, Asuka." – said her mother as she gently smiled to Asuka one last time before closing the door and leaving Asuka alone in the darkness.

Asuka smiled tiredly as well, as she closed her eyes. Soon the sleep claimed tired Asuka…

Author's Notes:

Once again, I would like to say sorry to everybody, who have been waiting for a new chapter of this story of mine, for it took me quite a long time to write this new chapter of this story of mine, to speak more precisely, more then a month.

I am also sorry because this is the second chapter in a row centered entirely upon Asuka, and the third chapter in a row without Shinji in it; and I am sure that some of those you have been reading this story of mine are beginning to wonder what is going on with Shinji meanwhile. However, I wanted to bring the things about Asuka up to a more or less logical conclusion before returning back to poor Shinji. I hope, that you don't mind it, people.

Anyway, I will try to write the next chapter of this story of mine, which is naturally going to be about  Shinji, as soon as possible; although considering how many things I have to do nowadays, I am not sure about when I will be able to present the next chapter of this story of mine.

And finally, please, people, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines, please, do so! I appreciate all the reviews and all the reviewers, for reviews make me feel like at least some people reading this story of mine, and needless to say, this makes me feel oh so very happy! However, please, people, avoid using the review options only to advertise others stories, for this makes me feel like people are reviewing this story of mine without even reading it, and besides, as I have already told you, you won't get much of a advertisement in reviews for my stories anyway, since only few people seem to read my stories, and even fewer people bother to review my stories. Oh, and keep in mind, people, that the good and positive reviews usually motivate me to write much faster, while negative and critical reviews can possibly help me to improve my writing skills. So, I'll repeat myself, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines, please, do so!


	8. Another encounter, slightly more pleasan...

**Another encounter, slightly more pleasant one**

Author's Notes:

First of all, before starting this chapter of this story of mine, I would like to 'officially' say sorry to Agent Regina (although I have already said sorry to her privately) for not mentioning her in the previous chapter of this story of mine. But unfortunately, I saw her review only after I have already uploaded the previous chapter of this story of mine, and I prefer not to edit any chapters unless I am revising the whole story. Sorry about all this once again, Agent Regina.

Secondary, I would like to thank all my reviewers – Agent Regina, RichardRahl and scifimimi once again. Thank you, wonderful people, for reading and reviewing this humble story of mine!

Agent Regina, personally, I believe that there is no need to know much about Babylon 5 reality in order to read and enjoy this story of mine; especially since, as some could already notice, this story of mine is going to be a very alternative universe comparing to the original Babylon 5 universe. Also there are some aspects of Babylon 5 universe, which I haven't seen detailed especially well (like Soul Hunters and their spaceships for example), and so, I was forced to make them up on my own (probably completely messing up some aspects of the original Babylon 5 universe in the process). But, anyway, I am very glad that you enjoyed reading this story of mine, and I will do my best to write the next chapter of this story of mine as soon as possible, although, as you can possibly guess, I cannot really promise anything.

Yeah, RichardRahl, unfortunately I indeed have some rather serious problems with English grammar. And also from time to time I indeed tend to rush ahead a little bit, especially when I know what I am going to write and when I know that some people are waiting for an another chapter of mine. However, I will try to take your advice to heart and will try not to rush ahead this time.

Heh, scifimimi, I kinda thought that this story of mine will be a little bit difficult to be understood unless you have seen Neon Genesis Evangelion animated series and especially The End of Evangelion animated movie. However, I am very glad that you actually enjoyed reading this story of mine, scifimimi! Anyway, since all the necessary elements of Neon Genesis Evangelion reality (i.e. Asuka, Shinji and devastated Earth), were already introduced into this story of mine, I don't think that you will have any serious problems with understanding and enjoying this story of mine, scifimimi, especially since this story of mine will lean more and more towards Babylon 5 reality with each new chapter, as you have possibly guessed already. Although, as I have already said, this is going to be a very alternative universe comparing to the original Babylon 5 universe. Still, I hope that you will enjoy reading this story of mine, scifimimi!

Oh, I have another thing to add. As some of you possibly know, due to the great amount of stars in the galaxy and even greater amount of planets in the galaxy, star faring races usually don't give names to any particular planets, they give names only to the stars. And so, planet's name consists of name of the star, which this planet is orbiting, and the number of this plant counting from the star. For example, planet Earth, which is the third planet from the star named Sol, is officially named Sol Three. Mars, which is the fourth planet from the star named Sol, is officially named Sol Four. Merkuri, which is the first planet from the star named Sol, is officially named Sol One, or more often Sol Prime. Word 'Prime' in planet's name symbolize that the planet is first to the star, which this planet is orbiting. Moons' names are consisting of the name of the planet, which they are orbiting, plus letter of that symbolizes their number from the planet. For example, our Earth's only moon is officially named Sol Three A, while Mars' two moons are officially named Sold Four A and Sol Four B. Sorry for troubling you with such details, people, I just wanted to shed some light to this situation before proceeding with this chapter of this story of mine, because in this chapter of this story of mine some people will possibly name some planets in such an alien way. However, as it is with any rules, there are exceptions, and in some rare cases some planets are actually given 'non-standard' names. For example, in the original Babylon 5 universe, all the planets of the Sol system seem to actually retain the names given to them by the human race; however, in this alternative Babylon 5 universe of mine, all the planets of the Sol system will be called by more 'standard' names, as no contacts with human race by any of the alien races has ever took place before.

Also, just as it has always been made before now, all text in _italic type_ is alien speech, translated to English language in this story for your understanding, but untranslated to any human language in this story's reality.

Yet another thing is that, as I have already said a few times, this is a very alternative universe of Babylon 5, and so, don't be surprised if you will find quite a few things very different from the original Babylon 5 reality. Also, please keep in mind, that I have seen Babylon 5 quite a long time ago, to be more precise, somewhere around five years ago or so. And I had no chance of seeing Babylon 5 since then, well, except for a few episodes of the fourth season (I don't remember this season's number for certain, but I think that it is the fourth season; anyway, it is the season in the end of which Captain Sheridan leads his 'rebellion' against President Clark), which I fortunately have recorded. And so, I simply don't remember certain events or facts of Babylon 5 reality to depict them correctly. That's one of the main reasons why this fanfictional story of mine is going on in a very alternative universe of Babylon 5. The other reason is that with Earth devastated and almost whole (except for Asuka and Shinji) human race 'saved' (i.e. imprisoned) by Soul Hunters, the history will take a dramatically different turn. And needless to say, the station Babylon 5 itself doesn't exist, at least, not yet. Yet it is quite possible that something like Babylon 5 will be built in nearest future.

And finally, happy anniversary to this story of mine, people! As some of you possibly noticed, exactly one year have passed since I first posted this story of mine!

Okay, and now, without further ado, let this story continue!

Another encounter, slightly more pleasant one 

Shinji sighed, as he looked upward into the sky. It was an evening already, and the sky was getting dark quickly. Shinji managed to find some chips to eat and some soft drinks to drink, and so, he wasn't especially hungry to thirsty anymore, at least for now. But Shinji's abdomen still hurt from Asuka's earlier blow.

"I guess, I deserved it after all." – though Shinji gloomy – "I have indeed done something horrible… Something I shouldn't have done. But still, I really hoped that she would be able to kind of forgive me…"

*The Beginning of Flashback*

"I can't believe it!" – shouted Asuka, interrupting Shinji – "I fought, I suffered, and then you just threw away everything, I fought and suffered for! Just like that, as if didn't worth anything! You are disgusting! I hate you! It would be better, if I wouldn't save you at all! It would be better if you wouldn't be born at all!"

*The End of Flashback*

"…But, I guess, it was kind of foolish of me to hope for something like that." – concluded his gloomy thoughts Shinji – "Perhaps, I am indeed a baka after all."

For some while Shinji thought about what he is going to do from now on, but he quickly realized, that he couldn't really do much. With Asuka and her Devil Ship gone, there was no way for Shinji to travel around much without risking to get stuck somewhere in the wastelands without food and water. For as much as Shinji have seen, the wastelands were covering the better part of Earth's surface after the failed Third Impact. Then Shinji thought about what Asuka is going to do from now on, and also quickly realized, that even though Asuka was able to travel around more or less freely in her Devil Ship, she couldn't really do much anyway. It was unlikely that any humans remained on the Earth after the Third Impact, or any living beings at all for that matter. So, he and Asuka were the only living beings on the Earth right now…

But suddenly, a male voice interrupted Shinji's gloomy thoughts, and even though this voice certainly didn't belong to Asuka, and even though Shinji couldn't understand what this voice was saying, Shinji instantly felt his spirits rise.

"The source of the signal is somewhere near here. And this is certainly a sentient life form. Yes, here it is!"

Shinji turned to the sound of this voice, and instantly saw a pair of human being approaching him – a young man and a young woman. Though both of them seemed to be rather young, Shinji realized that both of them are at least a few years older then he is. And this made him feel somewhat better. Perhaps, they would know what to do from now on, as they are adults after all.

The young man was dressed in black uniform of somewhat military design, at least as much as Shinji could judge it. To Shinji the young man seemed to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, hardly more. The young man had deep brown eyes and black hair, which was set into a strange hairstyle, which looked liked a rather short crest. The young man carried some kind of device is his hands. This device didn't look like a weapon, more like a scanner of some kind, but Shinji also didn't fail to see, that the young man also carried some kind of strange-looking pistol upon his belt.

The young woman looked to be slightly older then the young man, somewhere around eighteen or nineteen years old, probably even as much as twenty years old. She had quite attractive face, but her overall appearance was rather spoiled by the fact that her head was completely bold with exception of a single lock of chestnut brown hair at the back of the young woman's head. In addition to gloomy and worried expression upon the young woman's face, this fact didn't make the young woman look especially attractive. The young woman was dressed in simple but still elegant black dress.

"Ummm… who are you?.. Ummm… I mean you have survived the Third Impact?" – asked Shinji in both surprise in confusion.

The young man and the young woman looked at Shinji, then they looked at each other.

_"What is he saying?" _– asked the young man.

_"I am not sure."_ – replied the young woman – _"I think, that he asks something about who we are, and he is also speaks something about surviving some kind of blow or strike… I don't really know, but I think, that he most likely means the explosion of our mothership."_

_"But you studied the language spoken on Sol Three, haven't you?"_ – asked the young man.

_"Yes, I have."_ – replied the young woman – _"But they have many different languages on Sol Three, and I mostly studied only the primary of them, the one they call English. And this is the language they call Japanese. I know it a little bit, but I don't know it much, especially since it is very complicated. I'll try to speak on English language with him."_

"Do you speak English?" – asked the young woman in somewhat good English, turning back to Shinji.

Shinji didn't, and so, Shinji simply shook his head, showing that he doesn't understand what was asked of him.

_"Problems?"_ – asked the young man.

_"Yeah."_ – replied the young woman – _"He doesn't seem to understand English at all."_

_"But, could you?.."_ – spoke the young man, but left his question unfinished.

_"I guess, I could."_ – replied the young woman – _"I don't want to do it, but apparently it is our only choice to communicate."_

After saying so, the young woman surprised Shinji by walking up to him. Slightly embarrassed by this whole situation, Shinji backend away from her.

"Please, don't resist." – said the young woman softly in English.

But of course, Shinji couldn't understand her, and so, he backend away a little bit more.

"Apparently, he is not going to make it easy for me." – thought the young woman – "Well, then I don't have much of a choice…"

The young woman reached for Shinji's mind with her own mind, knowing that she would have to break Shinji's mental barriers to be able to communicate with him without any language. Shinji meekly tried to resist, but the young woman was both surprised and somewhat pleased to find Shinji's willpower very weak. As she didn't have much experience in such kind of opposition, the young woman simply pushed through. Shinji screamed.

"Calm down. Calm down. It's over now. Everything is alright now." – spoke a soft voice in Shinji's mind.

"Who are you? What did you do to me?" – asked Shinji aloud in Japanese.

"I don't understand your language." – spoke the same soft voice in Shinji's mind – "So please, just concentrate upon what you would like to say, and your thoughts will reach me."

After everything Shinji has seen and has encountered recently, Shinji couldn't be surprised much by anything. And comparing to some of the others things, which has seen and has encountered recently, some kind of telepathic communication wasn't really strange or surprising at all.

"Who are you?" – asked Shinji mentally.

"My name is Millie, and my companion's name is Sandro." – replied the soft voice in Shinji's mind, which obviously belonged to the young woman – Millie.

"Well, my name is Shinji" – mentally introduced himself Shinji mentally – "Two of you somehow managed to survive the Third Impact, didn't you? But how?"

"Well, I suppose it is going to be of some shock to you." – replied Millie mentally – "But Sandro and I came here from another planet. That's why we have no idea of what has happened here."

Shinji simply nodded in slightly absent way.

"Was it supposed to shock me?" – thought Shinji a little bit absently – "After the Evangelions, the Angels and finally the Third Impact? I guess, that there is nothing left that could possibly surprise me anymore."

Millie smiled to Shinji, as if she could somehow hear his thoughts.

"I understand, that these are probably painful memories for you, but I would like to know more about this Third Impact, which you were talking about." – said Millie mentally then – "However, I would like Sandro to hear that too, and while I certainly could simply translate your thoughts to him, I believe, that there is a better way…"

Then Millie suddenly turned to her companion, who was waiting patiently nearby, and spoke aloud in her native tongue – _"Sandro, we do have some translating devices back in Stiletto, don't we?"_

_"Yes, a couple of them, Lady Millie."_ – replied Sandro without hesitation – _"As far as I know, both of them are currently set to translate from Centauri language to one of the languages spoken on Sol Three, most likely this English language, which you were talking about, and vice versa. However, I am not sure about how much good would they do to us. Reprogramming them to translate from and to this Japanese language, which you were talking about, without good knowledge of both Japanese language and Centauri language would be pretty difficult, to speak more precisely impossible."_

_"Don't be so sure about that, Sandro."_ – said Millie, smiling to her companion slightly – _"I am quite capable to communicate with native, his name is Shinji, by the way, and I am pretty sure that together we will be quite capable of reprogramming one of our translating devices to translate from Centauri to Japanese and vice versa. Don't give up until you try, Sandro. Now, let's go back to Stiletto."_

_"Alright, Lady Millie."_ – said Sandro, as he began to walk, leading the way back to Stiletto.

Shinji looked after the departing Sandro, apparently slightly unsure about what to do or even think about it, until Millie mentally spoke to him once again.

"We are returning to our ship, where we have a translating device for you, Shinji." – said Millie's voice inside Shinji's mind – "It will take us some work to program one of these device for you, but in the end you will be able to communicate with us freely. You don't mind, I presume?"

"Nope, not at all." – replied Shinji to Millie mentally.

"Well, follow Sandro and me then." – said Millie's voice inside Shinji's mind, as Millie began to walk after departing Sandro.

Shinji sighed slightly, and began to walk after Millie and Sandro. He didn't seem to have anything better to do, did he?..

Author's Notes:

I am sorry for this chapter being very short (heh, especially with various Author's Notes taking almost a half of this chapter), people. Well, at least it took me quite little time to write it, only a couple of week, which is indeed quite little comparing to how long it usually take me to write a chapter.

Well, as usually, people, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines in your review, I will be very happy and grateful. It makes me truly happy to know that at least some people are reading this story of mine. Oh, and keep in mind, people, that the good and positive reviews usually motivate me to write much faster, while negative and critical reviews can possibly help me to improve my writing skills. So, I'll repeat myself, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines, please, do so!

However, people, please avoid using the review options only to advertise others stories, for this makes me feel like people are reviewing this story of mine without even reading it, and besides, as I have already told you, you won't get much of a advertisement in reviews for my stories anyway, since only few people seem to read my stories, and even fewer people bother to review my stories.


	9. A Streamlet of Hope an Ocean of Hopeless...

**A Streamlet of Hope, an Ocean of Hopelessness**

Author's Notes:

Once again, before starting this chapter of this story of mine, I would like to thank all my reviewers – RichardRahl, Agent Regina and scifimimi. Thank you, wonderful people, for reading and reviewing this humble story of mine!

Heh, RichardRahl, as you can see, I kind of took to heart your advice about not hurrying up, for it took me quite a long time to write this chapter of this story of mine, a little bit more then a month to be more precise. Well, truth to tell, I was also a little bit busy with a few of my others projects, one or even few of which will probably see the light more or less soon; well, if everything will go on the way it goes right now, that's it.

Agent Regina, as you probably noticed by now, I tend to mention and usually thank all my reviewers for the previous chapter in each new chapter of my fanfictional stories. I am terribly sorry for not mentioning you in the seventh chapter of this story of mine, but it looks like you have forgiven me, haven't you? Oh, and didn't I told you that you should never worry about lazy me overworking myself?

Yeah, you are of course right, scifimimi, Millie and Sandro are Centaurians. I like Centaurians very much, especially one particular Centaurian lord, who will possibly be mentioned or even show up more or less soon. But, either way, I hope that you will enjoy this new chapter of this story of mine, scifimimi.

By the way, in this chapter of this story of mine, I (or, to speak more precisely, one of the characters) will be using such term as parsec. For those who don't know this term, parsec is one of the means of measurement of extremely long distances, such as the distances between stars. One parsec is equal to 3,26 light years, or 3,08 X 1013 kilometers. However, naturally I am not astronomer myself, and so, I may be wrong about actual distances between the stars. If so, please forgive me.

Oh, I would like to mention, that I am changing the genre of this story to "Sci-Fi/Drama". I have though about this story's genre for quite some time now, and I a have finally decided, that "Sci-Fi/Drama" genre will be most appropriate for this story of mine. If you have any comments about whether "Sci-Fi/Drama" genre will be appropriate for this story of mine or no, please give them to me in your reviews, okay?

I would also like to mention, that I have decided to change this story's title from "NGE: the River of Souls" to "Beyond the End: the last ones of humankind". IMHO (in my humble opinion), the new title will suit this story much better then the previous one. But if you have any comments and/or objections, please give them to me in your reviews, okay?

Oh, and by the way, since everything spoken in this chapter of this story of mine will be spoken in alien speech (in Shinji's case through already programmed translation device), alien speech won't be marked with _italic type_ any longer. The way the speech will appear in this chapter of this story of mine is more or less how Shinji is hearing it, although of course in this chapter of this story of mine the text is written in English language, not in Japanese language. Although in certain parts there will be certain expressions, which were taken from Japanese language.

Speaking about certain expressions, which were taken from Japanese language, suffix "-sama" is a way to address somebody with uttermost respect in Japanese language. In translation, suffix "-sama" may either be omitted, or be translated as "Lord", "Lady" or some similar appropriate highly respectful title.

Okay, and now, without further ado, let this story continue!

A Streamlet of Hope, an Ocean of Hopelessness 

"Creator be damned!" Sandro swore aloud, and Millie visibly winced.

While Centauri weren't overly religious people, it wasn't in common practice to blame the Creator for whatever misfortunates were falling upon either race as whole, some of its members or a single member of the race.

Shinji, who has just finished telling Millie and Sandro what little he knew about the Third Impact, looked at Sandro with a slight but badly hidden disgust. While Shinji wasn't overly religious himself nowadays, nobody would remain religious after going through killing those who were supposed to be messengers of God, Shinji didn't liked the fact that one of the first comprehensible phrases, which he heard from Sandro, turned out to be a swearing.

Shinji didn't really know what he had been expecting from this translating device, but it surprised it with its simple design and effective functioning. The device was extremely simple in construction – a single earplug and a speaker, which was placed just under his mouth. Both of earplug and a speaker were connected through a small metal box, which was fastened on his neck, and as far as Shinji understood, was something like a central memory block for this translating device. Now, when this translating device was programmed and fastened, whatever Shinji said in Japanese language seemed to be automatically translated into Centauri language, and vice versa, whatever was said in Centauri language was automatically translated into Japanese language for Shinji. Naturally, Shinji could notice no difference anyway, since everything was translated back into a Japanese language for him; but he couldn't fail to notice, that at least now he was able to understand what Millie and Sandro were saying, and they seemed to be perfectly understanding what he was saying as well. Strange enough, the way Sandro was addressing Millie always sounded as "Millie-sama" for Shinji, while Millie never bothered with such formalities while addressing Sandro. For this, Shinji realized that Millie was something like a leader of the two, although he never seen her really giving and enforcing orders, at least, not yet.

"Sandro…" Millie said softly meanwhile, turning to her companion.

"You don't get it, do you?!" Sandro said angrily, almost shouting.

And then, after a short pause, Sandro added. "Millie-sama."

"I know, how you must feel about mother, captain and everybody, but…" Millie started to speak, trying to sound at least more or less calm.

"We get stuck at this effectively dead planet!" Sandro interrupted her. "Stiletto, like all the starfighters of Centauri fleet, isn't equipped with Hyperspace Portal Spawner, it is too large and too expensive to place on a tiny starfighter! And moreover, our scanner and communication system aren't strong enough to send a Hyperspace message. And this basically means that we have absolutely no way to contact with our people, just as we have absolutely no way to return home."

"But maybe…" Millie started to speak once again, unable to hide uncertainness in her voice this time.

"Maybe what?!" Sandro asked angrily. "You don't seriously believe that we will be able to find a Station Hyperspace Portal, Millie-sama, do you?! We are no less then twenty or so parsecs form the nearest more or less civilized space! Probably even farther, I don't remember it correctly! There is no way for us to cross such distance in the normal space, especially on just a starfighter!"

Millie remained silent, not really knowing what to say, especially since it seemed that her companion was absolutely right. Still, she didn't like the way her companion behaved right now. Perhaps for the first time in her short life, Millie wished that she spent more time developing her telepathic powers. She never had much use for her telepathic powers in the past, even though according to her mother and some others telepaths, her telepathic powers were strong enough to be reckoning with, and after certain "special modifications", which she had passed, many more ways of using her powers were opened before her. But now, Millie wished that she could use her telepathic powers to calm her companion down or maybe even put him into sleep. But no matter how strong one's powers were, one was simply unable to do what he or she wasn't taught to do. And Millie was forced to admit, that her telepathic training was very brief.

Returning her thoughts to the cause of her wish – Sandro, Millie mentally sighed. Before now, Sandro was quite a pleasant companion, for as long as she knew him, which however wasn't especially long time. Ever since their mother ship took off to this exploring mission, Millie's mother – Lady Malindra insisted upon appointing Sandro to the position of Millie's bodyguard. There seem to be no need for that at all, at least while they were on the mother ship, but nobody was going to argue with Lady Malindra's orders, especially since most of the time Lady Malindra knew what she was doing. At first neither Sandro nor Millie herself were especially pleased about that order, but in time Millie started to find Sandro's company more or less pleasant, even though from time to time her tend to bore her with his occasional talks about various starships and technologies. These were the subjects, which Millie knew almost nothing about, and truth to tell, they weren't interesting to her in any way. Yet, Millie always was polite enough not to tell her "bodyguard" to shut up. But despite the differences in their interests, Millie and Sandro were getting along more or less well. Now, however, Millie was learning about the other side of her companion, the side, which she didn't like at all.

"Um, so you get stuck here, didn't you?" Shinji asked carefully, trying to learn more about situation and not to enrage one of his new companions even more. "May I ask, how could it happen? I mean, you managed to get here somehow, didn't you? Why can't you get back the same why as you get here?"

Shinji was slightly surprised and confused, when in response to his questions, Millie lowered her head, looking very sad indeed. However, Shinji's confusion didn't last for long…

"We got here upon our mother ship." Sandro replied, turning to face his new companion. "However, soon after we entered Sol Three's…"

"Sol Three's?" Shinji asked, interrupting Sandro.

"This planet." Sandro explained. "What do you call it?"

"Earth." Shinji said.

"Very well, Earth then." Sandro said and then continued. "As I was saying, soon after we entered Earth's atmosphere, first Malindra-sama, who was…" Sandro made a short pause. "…I will try to explain it later, as it is not important right now, and besides, I don't really understand much of it. Anyway, first Malindra-sama and then our mother ship were attacked by some unidentified enemy. Because of attack on Malindra-sama, our mother ship was crippled and effectively defenseless against this unidentified enemy, and so, Malindra-sama ordered for Millie-sama and me to be sent to Earth surface, so that at least we get a chance to survive our mother ship's destruction. And even though we indeed managed to survive our mother ship's destruction, it does us little good right now, as we have no way of either returning to our people or even to send a distress signal to them. Also, neither Millie-sama nor me really know the reasons for our mother ship's exploring mission, although I am quite sure that Millie-sama have some thoughts about this matter."

"As Sandro rightly said, I don't know anything for sure." Millie said quietly. "Mother and captain kept almost everything to themselves. However, I believe that whatever the reasons were, they had something or maybe even everything to do with this Third Impact, which you told us about. Who knows, perhaps, should we arrive in time, the history of your race would take a dramatically different turn. We'll never know it now. But also, there is possibly something else…" Millie turned to Sandro and raised her heard to look in his eyes before continuing. "…You know about the Shadows, Sandro, don't you?"

"The Shadows?" Sandro made a rather large pause, apparently trying to remember. 

"Were they some long-gone ancient race or another?" Sandro asked after his rather large pause.

"In a way, yes." Millie replied. "Only they aren't truly gone. Some say that they will return."

"Some say?" Sandro asked, then his face suddenly brightened, and he continued. "Oh yeah, I remember now. They were the ones whom Minbari warned us about the year before they broke off all the relations with us, weren't they? Well, who cares about all these ancient legends except for these self-righteous Minbari?"

"Mother spoke about them." Millie said meaningfully. "And we used their technology to…"

"And how much good have it done to us, eh?" Sandro asked, interrupting Millie. " Whoever attacked us, he has made us defenseless in no time! It even looked almost like he turned our own technology against us, at least, I don't think that we would be beaten so easily if your… if Malindra-sama wasn't somehow linked with our mother ship, and if the single telepathic, or whatever it was, attack upon her wouldn't make our mother ship absolutely defenseless! What can you say on this, Millie-sama?"

"I say that while you speak the truth, you don't interpret it correctly." Millie said calmly. "If the Shadows have indeed returned, they would possibly indeed be able to turn our mother ship, which has been modified with some of their technologies, defenseless without much difficulty. If the Shadows wouldn't be somehow involved in this, I seriously doubt that such thing would be possible. This suggests, that it is quite possible that the Shadows have already returned, moreover, that the Shadows viewed our mother ship's exploring mission as something dangerous to their plans."

"If so, why haven't they finished two of us off?" Sandro asked. "If they are as ancient and powerful as those Minbari claimed, I serious doubt that they would miss two of us."

"This is something I don't know." Millie replied. "Perhaps, they didn't view two of us as any significant danger to their plans. After all, two of us know almost nothing about mother and captain's plans. And…" Millie made a short pause, but then sighed and continued. "…And as you rightly said, Sandro, we indeed seem to have no way of either returning to our people or even to send a distress signal to them. What danger can we possibly pose?"

An uneasy silence fell upon them, until finally Shinji decided to speak once again.

"Okay, I get it, so you can neither return back to your people by yourself nor even contact them in some way." Shinji said, and then asked. "But some of your people know that you are here, don't they? And so, sooner or later someone will come to rescue you, won't they?"

Sandro though for a several seconds, and shook his head and said. "Truthfully, I don't know. Of course, our captain received an official permission from the Emperor to take our mother ship off on this exploring mission of his, however, very few in the court or in the military know about our mission or our destination…"

"Molari-sama…" Millie muttered.

"Huh?" Shinji asked, turning his attention to Millie.

"He is our late captain's friend…" Millie said.

"Well, I am not sure whether you can call Molari-sama our late captain's friend…" Sandro said, interrupting Millie. "Personally, I'd say that term 'healthy competitor' would be far more appropriate…"

"But you know that he may send somebody after are or even come after us himself, don't you?" Millie said, in turn interrupting Sandro. "He is one of the few lords who actually cares about something other then his own wealth, reputation and status…" Millie went silent for a few moments, and then added. "…At least, mother was sure about this…"

"So, our situation isn't such a hopeless one, is it?" Shinji asked, hoping to get some reassurance from Millie and Sandro.

Both Millie and Sandro nodded, but said nothing; for while Shinji couldn't really get grasp on their situation because he knew virtually nothing about Centauri people as well as their customs and politics, both Millie and Sandro perfectly understood, that their hope was very slim indeed. Even if Lord Londo Molari was indeed something like a friend for their captain, it would be highly unlikely that he would aid them in some way unless he would have a good reason to do so.

"So, do you have any ides what should we do now? While we are waiting, I mean." Shinji asked a couple of minutes later to break the silence.

"Considering that our wait can be a long one, it would be wise of us to get some food and water." Sandro replied. "We have some here aboard Stiletto, but it won't last long. Do you have any ideas where can we find some food and water in this city of yours?"

"Well, I'm sure there is a plenty of it around." Shinji replied. "I will be able to recognize food store more or less easily when we will walk into the one."

"Very well, we better go together then." Sandro said to Shinji.

Then Sandro turned to Millie and continued. "Millie-sama, I believe that you better to accompany us as well."

"Thanks you, Sandro, but I would rather prefer to stay here aboard Stiletto for a while." Millie replied, for even though she tried her best not to show it, prolonged telepathic contact with Shinji exhausted Millie greatly.

"But it might be dangerous for you to stay here alone." Sandro objected. "While Stiletto is on the ground, its scanners aren't of any use, and so, if somebody will approach you, you won't know it until it will be too late."

"I doubt that there is somebody to approach me apart from two of you." Millie objected. "From what we have seen and from what Shinji told us, I'd say there is no living being upon this planet except for us."

Then Millie noticed a pained expression that crossed Shinji's face, and quickly added. "I'm sorry, Shinji."

"No, it is more or less okay." Shinji said. "It is just…" Shinji made a very short pause, and then continued. "…It is just that all of it is my fault."

"I don't think it is fully your fault, Shinji." Millie said gently. "From what I know, I'd say you were just a victim of circumstances. Either way, there is no use to blame yourself now. What's done is done."

"If you say so." Shinji said, nodding, yet still remaining somewhat unconvinced.

"Alright, either way, we will try to return as soon as possible, Millie-sama." Sandro said to Millie.

Then Sandro turned back to Shinji and said. "Alright, let's get going, Shinji."

And so, shortly afterwards Sandro and Shinji left Stiletto and went into the partially devastated city to get some food and drink, leaving Millie alone in Stiletto…

Author's Notes:

Once again, I wanna say sorry to you, people, because this chapter of this story was a rather short one, especially with various author's notes occupying quite a large part of it, and also because it took me quite a long time to write this chapter of this story of mine, a little bit more then a month to be more precise. Well, truth to tell, apart from me being busy with a few other projects of mine, one or even few of which will probably see the light more or less soon, and of course relaxing; this story is also becoming a little bit difficult to me to write at this pointing, especially since I am currently considering two different ways, in one of which this story of mine is going to unfold. That is why the time between my updates of this story of mine is getting quite long, and will possible get even longer in the future. Once again, I am very sorry about that, people.

Well, as usually, people, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines in your review, I will be very happy and grateful. It makes me truly happy to know that at least some people are reading this story of mine. Oh, and keep in mind, people, that the good and positive reviews usually motivate me to write much faster, while negative and critical reviews can possibly help me to improve my writing skills. So, I'll repeat myself, if you have half a minute or so to drop me a few lines, please, do so!

However, people, please avoid using the review options only to advertise others stories, for this makes me feel like people are reviewing this story of mine without even reading it, and besides, as I have already told you, you won't get much of a advertisement in reviews for my stories anyway, since only few people seem to read my stories, and even fewer people bother to review my stories.


	10. The Final

**The Final**

Author's Notes:

Well, here it is, people, the final chapter of this story of mine. I hope, that you will enjoy reading this chapter of this story of mine. All right, anyway…

Before starting this chapter of this story of mine, I would like to say sorry to everybody for it took me a very long time indeed to write this chapter of this story of mine, slightly more then two months to be more precise.

Also, I would like to once again thank both my reviewers – RichardRahl and Agent Regina. Thank you very much, you wonderful people, for reading and reviewing this humble story of mine!

RichardRahl, I thank you very much for all the wonderful compliments you gave me and this story of mine, as well as for putting me on your Author Alert list and providing me with an advice regarding my story's location. However, I truly believe that each story should be placed into an appropriate category, and truth to tell it really disappoint me seeing so many stories at fanfiction.net being put into the inappropriate categories. And so, I intend to keep this story of mine in the category where it belongs to, i.e. Misc/Crossovers, and just hope that there are more people who are reading this story of mine, even though they aren't reviewing it. Oh, and by the way, everything you have written in your last review was perfectly readable, however I am very sorry to hear about your virus problem, even though I am quite sure that you dealt with this virus problem of yours by now, since slightly more then two months have passed since you wrote your review for the previous chapter of this story of mine.

Wow, Regina, you don't know who the Shadows are?! Well… BRO smiles …I guess this story of mine will be even more interesting for you then, as it will contain quite a few surprises for you! But the way, this very chapter of this story of mine is going to involve Shadows (who, as you definitely guessed by now, aren't really gone) some more. Of course, I remember quite little of them from the original Babylon 5, just their general ideology as well as some of their abilities and technologies, and so, it is rather likely that in this story of mine Shadows will be more or less different for how they were made in the original Babylon 5. But I truly hope that readers will forgive me for that. Oh, and I would like to once again assure you, that you should never worry about lazy me overworking myself… BRO winks …For while I truly enjoy writing fanfiction very much, I never deny myself some rest!

Also, I would like to mention, that I am once again changing the genre of this story, this time to "Action/Adventure/Angst". I did a little bit more thinking about where this story is going, and finally I have come to conclusion that "Action/Adventure/Angst" genre will be most appropriate for this story of mine. If you have any comments about whether "Action/Adventure/Angst" genre will be appropriate for this story of mine or no, please give them to me in your reviews, okay? Not that this story's genre matters much now, with this being the last chapter of this story of mine, but still…

Oh, and one last thing before I'll get to this chapter of this story of mine. In this chapter of this story of mine some things spoken in alien languages (especially the names, and especially the VERY LONG names, like those that contain many thousands of letters all of which are different, LOL!) will be simply untranslatable. In such cases, I will place "_(untranslatable word)_" comment instead of actual word.

All right, and now without further ado, let this chapter of this story of mine start, and let this story of mine end with it!

The Final 

The dark and gloomy room, which in fact was a bridge of a black spider-like alien spaceship, was empty. At least, it seemed to be empty for any unaided eye. In reality, however, it was far from being empty.

In reality, a few dark silhouettes occupied the room; and the most of them were before a strange piece of alien machinery. Yet they were invisible to any unaided eye, unless they would choose to become visible themselves.

All silhouettes looked more or less alike, or at least it would seem so to any other being, should it somehow be able to spot them. They seemed to be larger then human beings, though it was difficult to tell for sure as they weren't humanoid at all; in fact, they looked more like giant multi-legged insectoids. The closest things they could be compared with were spiders, ants, or mantises, but it was a very distant correlation; for even though they had some similarities with each of these insects, they still looked very different from them.

Suddenly the door into the room opened, and another similar silhouette walked into the room. While it didn't seem to be in hurry, it still moved rather fast, it seemed, that speed was a natural attribute for these alien creatures.

"How is the female survivor?" One of the alien creatures asked, with some difficulty its alien voice could be recognized as male.

"She is sleeping." The alien creature, who has just walked into the room replied, this one's voice could be recognized as female, although also with some difficulty.

"Does she suspect anything?" The third alien creature asked, this one's voice could be recognized as male, although also with some difficulty.

"I believe that this is what they call "willing delusion"." The second alien creature replied. "She believes just because she wants to believe, even though her mind surely tells her otherwise."

"I still fail to see the wisdom in taking her in." The fourth alien creature commented, this one's voice could be recognized as female, although also with some difficulty.

"They are… were the dead end in evolutionary process." The fourth alien creature continued. "Growing bitter from their inability to evolve farther, they eventually caused their own self-destruction. Even if this wouldn't happen, they would eventually be annihilated by one of the greater races. Survival of the fittest – such is the way of evolution. This being so, I remain puzzled; why did you choose to interfere this time?"

The first and the third alien creatures – the males, exchanged glances, and then the first alien creature spoke. "Indeed, the race known as humans were believed to reach the end of its evolutionary potential, and this being so, none of them were expected to survive the recent cataclysm. Our presence here was just…" The first alien creature made a short pause, as if thinking about what to say next, and then continued. "…To ensure that everything would go the way it was expected to. However, the fact that these two somehow managed to survive the cataclysm suggests that we could have erred in our assumption about the human race. Or, to speak more precisely, while the most of humankind might indeed have no future as a race, these two must have more potential then the rest of their race, perhaps even the potential to evolve to a higher state of being and to give birth to a race greater then humankind ever was. Indeed, the two survivors represent the both genders of human race, and so they will be able to breed and thus to restore the human race. What do you think about this matter, Professor _(untranslatable word)_?"

"The way you put it, Captain _(untranslatable word)_, I am beginning to see the wisdom in your words." The fourth alien creature replied. "Indeed, the fact that the both genders of the human race were represented by the two survivors can be more then a coincidence, for evolution indeed works in the strange ways. And are we not evolution's primary tool? I say we need at least make a through and careful study of the female specimen before rushing to a hasty decision. And I also say that we also need to recover the male specimen immediately."

"Perhaps that is what we will do." The first alien creature said. "Professor _(untranslatable word)_, what can you say about the female specimen?"

"Her mental capabilities seem to be well above the human average." The second alien creature replied. "While analysis suggests that she is either a child or a young adult by humans' standards, her mind seems to be developed well above what the most of fully-grown humans were capable of. Also, her performance against the Centaurian battleship suggests that she has a very powerful though most likely poorly developed telepathic powers. Her physical capabilities are also seem well above what we have seen the most of fully-grown humans to be capable of. In fact, I believe that she would be able to fight in unarmed combat with members of such physically strong races as Narns and Drazi, and not the weakest members of these races, on equal terms, and she likely even would be able to beat them. I am not sure, however, which of her abilities are inherent and which are results of her symbiosis with the Soul Hunters' frigate, which has apparently been modified with our technologies. In many ways, ours and Soul Hunters' technologies are somewhat akin to each other, as we both use some organic components for our spaceship; yet in reality we know very little about Soul Hunters' technologies, and thus we cannot be sure about what symbiosis with the Soul Hunters' frigate could have done with her. I must also add, however, that the female specimen seems to be somewhat unstable mentally, once again it could be a result of her symbiosis with a Soul Hunters' frigate, but I suspect that this is something different, possibly a result of a cataclysm which she was forced to live through. Either way, this mental unstability presents a certain degree of danger to us, especially taking her possible telepathic powers into the account. I believe, that she was able to disrupt the core of the Centaurian battleship and thus able to destroy it, and this means that she will likewise be able to disrupt the core of our own battleship if she will choose to do so, or perhaps even accidentally. With this being so, it is needless to say that she presents a mortal danger to us. But I believe that you, Captain _(untranslatable word)_, as well as my colleague, Professor _(untranslatable word)_, are right; this is too much of an interesting opportunity for a study to dispose of the female specimen despite the obvious danger that she poses for us."

"It is decided then." The first alien creature said. "We will collect the male specimen and return back to _(untranslatable word)_."

"Excuse me, Captain _(untranslatable word)_, but I wouldn't suggest such course of action." The second alien creature objected. "The female specimen seem to harbour conflicting feeling about the male specimen, and I have absolutely no idea what would they do when and if they will meet again. I would suggest preventing the tow specimen from meeting each other, for some while at least."

"We can try to isolate the specimens from each other." The third alien creature suggested.

"Once again, I must say that I wouldn't suggest such course of action." The second alien creature objected once again. "For effectively imprisoning the specimens will definitely set the specimens against us. And while I do not know anything about the male specimen, I am absolutely sure that setting the female specimen against us will be extremely dangerous, perhaps even fatal, to us. Also if we are to win the specimens, or at least the female specimen, to our cause, we need to win her trust and friendship, and this definitely won't be archived should we effectively imprison her. We cannot hold her in our illusions forever, and when these illusions will be removed she must be ready to accept the reality, as well as to accept us for who we are. And to archive this we also must be ready against this time when it comes."

The first alien creature thought for a short while, and then said. "Very well, let him remain on Sol Three for now. The humans never had any real spaceships, and with the Centaurian battleship now gone there is almost no chance for him to escape from Sol Three. And while on Sol Three, he is as good as in our grasp…"

"Excuse me, Captain _(untranslatable word)_, but according to our surveillance the male specimen has established contact with two of surviving Centaurians, those who have managed to escape from the Centaurian battleship before its destruction." The third alien creature said. "And thus, should Centaurians launch a rescue operation, the male specimen will be lost for us, for some while at least."

"So what?" The first alien creature asked. "Centaurians won't be a disturbance to our plans, and neither the male specimen will be…"

"We cannot be sure, as we have never studied the male specimen!" The fourth alien creature commented, daring to interrupt the first alien creature, who appeared to be the Captain, whom some of them were referring to, and thus was in charge of all of them.

"I am against recovering the male specimen right now, but nevertheless I must admit that Professor _(untranslatable word)_ has the point." The second alien creature said. "We cannot be sure in what the male specimen is capable of until we will perform a through analysis of him."

"I see." The first alien creature said. "But, Professor _(untranslatable word)_, if the male specimen will be beyond our reach, wouldn't it be better if some out civilization would take care of him?"

"This depends." The fourth alien creature replied. "Any development, whether it is brought by us or by… Some other powerful civilization is in favour of evolution. However, the male specimen's prolonged contact with one of the lesser races will risk bringing degradation rather then development, especially if the male specimen will be above this particular race."

"Hmmm… This may be so…" The first alien creature said. "But Centaurians are among most developed of the lesser races, and the approaching war, that is going to wipe out the weaklings, will definitely bring Centaurians to the higher state of being."

"Yes, but only if they will survive it." The fourth alien creature said. "Survival of the fittest is the only way, after all."

"All right, but this is going away from the main topic." The third alien creature commented. "We are not discussing the fate of Centaurians, we are discussing whether we should leave the male specimen with them or not."

Silence fall upon the room for about a minute or so, and then the first alien creature spoke.

"When the war will erupt, Centaurians will be among the first involved into it." The first alien creature said. "If the male specimen will prove himself worthy, Centaurians will definitely try to use him in this war. And thus, they will unintentionally set up a test of him; whether he is fit enough to survive and perhaps someday to give birth to a new race, the reborn human race, or not. Why not let Centaurians do our work themselves? And on our part, we will test the female specimen, to ensure that she is fit enough to survive and likewise someday to give birth to a new race, or no. Although it seems that there could be little doubts about the female specimen's capabilities. Any other comments?"

Three other alien creatures remained silent, and thus, the decision was made.

Meanwhile, down on Earth…

"Hmmm… This tastes kinda strange, but delicious." Millie said, as she was eating some cookies of unknown to Shinji sort – they were among the food that Sandro and Shinji had brought from the city.

It also will be important to mention, that most of the food and drink that Sandro and Shinji have found was of unknown to Shinji sort, the only exceptions were world-renown soft drinks, like Sprite, Fanta and Coca Cola. Also, nearly all the signs on they encountered were of written on unknown to Shinji language, and the few others were written in English language, that Shinji couldn't really read either. In short, wherever they were right now, it was definitely not Japan; indeed, Shinji saw the whole Japan annihilated before his own eyes, when the Black Moon broke free before beneath it…

"Hay, these drink isn't bad either, although it doesn't even began to compare with some of ours!" Sandro proclaimed, as he took another gulp from a can of what Shinji thought to be some sort of beer or possibly some other alcohol.

"Are you sure that it is okay to drink so much of this stuff, taking our current circumstances into account?" Mille asked. "After all, Shinji thought that it might be an alcohol of some kind…"

"Hay, if there's any alcohol in there, it's too little to even notice it!" Sandro proclaimed, as he took a final gulp out of his can and thrown it some fifteen feet away to the ground, to join four others.

"At times like this, I think that your manners can use some improvement, Sandro." Millie commented.

"What, even in an uninhabited place like this?!" Sandro asked in surprise, but then quickly excused himself, say. "Sorry, Millie-sama."

"Yes, even in a place like this." Millie replied, then letting out a sigh.

Then for some while a silence has fallen, interrupted only by Sandro's opening of yet another can.

"Okay, so what are we going to do now?" Shinji finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I guess we all can use some sleep." Sandro replied. "Shinji, you and I are going to take turn staying on watch."

"That's not what I meant." Shinji said. "I meant that…"

"Hay, we can't really do anything except for waiting, remember?!" Sandro said, interrupting Shinji. "Anyway, I presume that you know how to use this?" Sandro drew his blaster pistol out of his holster and demonstrating it to Shinji. "I suppose it is not much different form some of your handguns, is it?"

"Ummm…" Shinji said. "I never actually had any experience with handguns before."

"What, but from what you told us, you were in a military, weren't you?" Sandro asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"Well, yes, but it was completely different." Shinji explained. "I was never trained with anything but Evangelions."

"Specialized training; leads to complete inability under unexpected circumstances." Sandro muttered under his nose with a sigh.

"All right, well then we'll…" Sandro began, but then fall into silence, as he couldn't think of what use Shinji would be on the watch then, except for possibly crying out loud before getting captured or killed by a possible attacker.

"I'll take a turn staying on watch then." Millie suddenly said.

"But you are…" Sandro began to speak…

"Yes, I am also untrained in the use of any weapons." Millie said, interrupting Sandro. "But I have other means of protecting myself, and in worst possible case I will be able to sent telepathic messages to two of you, awakening two of you far more surely then any cry or alarm."

"Alright, I'll take the first watch and you'll take the second, Millie-sama." Sandro said finally, as he was unable to think of any other way to handle the situation.

It was nearly morning when Shinji and Sandro, who had relinquished his watch duty to Millie not a long time ago, heard Millie's voice in their heads, "Hurry, wake up! I think our communicator is picking up something!"

Sandro almost immediately got out of his bedroll, which was one of the two bedrolls that he took out of Stiletto's survival kit, and rushed into Stiletto's cockpit, where Millie also were. It will be important to mention, that neither Sandro nor Millie bothered to take their clothes off before going to sleep, and after a brief hesitation, Shinji also choose to follow their example.

In Stiletto's cockpit, Millie was trying to adjust Stiletto's communicational systems to the proper radio waves, but failed to succeed in this task; as Stiletto's communicational systems were only beeping in response.

"Let me try it." Sandro said.

Millie obediently stood up, relinquishing co-pilot's chair to Sandro, which he immediately took. About half a minute or so later, Shinji, who needed more time to get up then Sandro did, also joined Sandro and Millie in Stiletto's cockpit.

"There, I think I got it!" Sandro said victoriously about another half a minute or so later.

There was a very brief delay, and then a male voice spoke through the communicator in clear Centauri language (Japanese language for Shinji), "Does anybody hear us? This is Valarius of Centauri Space Forces. Repeating, this is Valarius of Centauri Space Forces. Does anybody hear us?"

After hearing this, Sandro couldn't help but to smile broadly, and Millie smiled as well, although much more reservedly. After watching his new companions' reaction for a brief moment, Shinji also smiled reservedly; for it seemed that rescue party, which his new companions didn't really believed would ever arrive, has arrived against all the odds, and very soon at that.

"This is Stiletto of Centauri Space Forces!" Replied Sandro happily through the communicator. "Pleased to hear you, Valarius!"

Meanwhile, the black spider-like alien spaceship kept at some distance from the small fleet, that so unexpectedly jumped into the Solar System. Partially hidden by the Planet Sol Three's only moon, and protected by the very best stealth systems in the universe, the black spider-like alien spaceship remained undetected; even though the race that has just arrived to the Solar System tended to boast about their superior technologies, including their superior scanners and radars.

"They have arrived sooner then we expected, and in force at that." The male alien creature at the black spider-like alien spaceship's bridge, who was usually addressed as a Captain by the black spider-like alien spaceship's crewmembers, said. "How much force did they bring here?"

"Two battleships, six destroyers, and a dozen frigates. We can only speculate on how many fighters do they carry with them." The other alien creature replied. "I'd say this it a little bit too much for a simple search and rescue operation, unless you expect a powerful opposition, that's it."

"They definitely have expected, or perhaps even knew what they will find in here." The first alien creature agreed. "This wasn't supposed to happen. They had not means to know what is going on in here, unless… Unless they have been warned."

"Should we attempt to annihilate them?" The second alien creature asked, even though he has already knew the answer, the only logical one.

"It would be the best course of action, but unfortunately we cannot do that." The first alien creature replied. "Even with our technological superiority and with element of surprise that will definitely be on our side, they will definitely overcome us with their sheer numbers. No, we must return back to _(untranslatable word)_ to make a report, and it is also our duty to deliver the female specimen to _(untranslatable word)_ safely. We will retreat… For now."

Still unnoticed by anybody, the black spider-like alien spaceship drifted away into the blackness of space, where it could open a Hyperspace portal without anybody noticing it…

Some while later, very far away…

A middle-aged Centaurian man, who was dressed in a formal black suit and had his usual for Centaurians black hair done into a rather high crest, sat in the long-range communication room before the rather large screen. The Centaurian man upon the screen appeared to be sitting in some kind of a chair and appeared to be about of the same age as the Centaurian man the long-range communication room, although he was dressed in black military-style uniform with stripes of a Captain of Centauri Space Forces upon it and his hair was done into a somewhat shorter crest.

"As you were predicting, Lord Londo, our battleship that was sent to a reconnaissance mission to the Solar System, and almost all of its crew as well as almost all living creatures on the Planet Sol Three, the only inhabited planet in the whole Solar System, were wiped out."

"Almost all?!" The Centaurian man the long-range communication room – Lord Londo asked, apparently surprised, as he made an emphasis on a word "almost". "Explain yourself, Captain Randel."

"Unlike you were expecting, Lord Londo." The Centaurian man upon the screen – Captain Randel said. "There were a few survivors, two crewmembers from our battleship and one native from the Planet Sol Three. I am currently on my way back to Centauri Prime with them."

"So there were a few survivors, very interesting." Lord Londo muttered under his nose.

"Alright, carry on, Captain Randel." Lord Londo finally said, ending their brief conversation.

"Yes, Lord Londo." Captain Randel said, saluting to Lord Londo.

And then, the communication screen went blank.

"A few survivors, that is very very interesting." Lord Londo repeated himself, speaking aloud this time, even though he seemed to be by himself right now. "Survivors are unexpected gift they have given to us. But one way or another, it has begun."

"Yes" Spoke the deep and nearly emotionless voice from somewhere behind Lord Londo, although the source of this voice remained invisible. "It has begun."

And some more while later…

Shinji, wearing his old and quite dirty clothes stood before the large palace, feeling no small uncertainness. The palace as well as the whole city around it, which was a strange but fascinating combination of a very advanced technology and an antique style, was a true wonder in Shinji's eyes, although on the other hand, he had seen more then his share of wonders lately.

"There is no need for worrying." The Centaurian man, who stood in front and a little to the right from Shinji, and whom Shinji now knew as Captain Randel Visson, said, half-turning to Shinji. "You still have more then enough time to prepare yourself for the meeting, forgive me for saying so, but especially since you are desperately in need for a bath and new clothes. And then… Then Emperor Turhan himself will be most eager to hear your story."

"But why me?" Shinji asked weakly. "Why it always have to be me?"

"Because you have seen and experienced things that nobody else seen or experienced." Captain Randel replied. "Meeting with Emperor Turhan himself is a great honor, and still you view it as if it were a bad thing."

"But I am afraid." Shinji admitted weakly.

"This is only natural." Captain Randel said. "But with time, the fear will pass. Now, would you please follow me?"

"All right." Shinji replied weakly.

Captain Randel gave Shinji a brief smile, and walked towards the palace's doors, leaving Shinji no other choice but to follow him…

And six months later…

"So, you are leaving tomorrow, right?" Shinji asked Sandro, who became Shinji's only real friend on Centauri Prime during the six months he spent helping Shinji to get accustomed with Centaurian environment.

Currently both of them were standing on the balcony of Shinji's apartment in the Imperial City on Centauri Prime.

"Yes, I've got an assignment to one of defense cruisers stationed on Centauri Beta One. Nothing special so far, just a Junior Grade Lieutenant, but I expect eventual and possibly even quick promotion. And anyway, when you will finish your studies, perhaps we will get a chance to work together, eh?"

"You know, I am still unsure about this." Shinji said, sounding rather uncertain indeed. "I mean, me a Space Forces Officer?"

"Why not?" Sandro asked in return. "You will never know until you try it. And moreover, you have already had some military training, although of completely different kind, and learning the second field is always easier then the first one, or so I have heard. Oh well, your future will be in your two hands from now on, and as about me, I need to go to prepare myself for my tomorrow's departure. Unit we meet again, Shinji."

"Yeah, until we meet again, Sandro." Shinji said.

And then Sandro left the room, leaving Shinji alone with his thoughts…

Meanwhile, very far away…

Along with many others, she hovered not far from the planet, ever ready to destroy possible uninvited guests. Strangely enough, the system she was currently in didn't have a real sun, but it had a strange blazing nebulosity nearby, that gave more or less the same amount of lighting as an ordinary sun would normally give. The surface of the system's only planet looked uninhabitable, because of many defeats its dwellers have suffered over the eons. Yet she knew, that deep underneath the planet's surface there were many great underground cities that housed a race nearly as ancient as the time itself.

She spent a month in one of these cities, before its dwellers, the Shadows as their race was called, have finally opened her eyes to reality. Despite all her delusions, her mother was long dead, as were all the people of her race, all but the one whom she didn't even want to remember. By then, her spaceship, which has essentially became just another form of her by then, was fully repaired by the Shadows, and thus she was free to leave if she would choose to do so. But what was the point? Her race was annihilated and her homeworld was devastated about as much as Shadows' homeworld was, and all of this was essentially done by the hands of the one person; the person, who got as close to becoming her friend as anybody ever got. And since she has never even considered suicide to be an option, the only choice she had was to start her life anew, and staying on the Shadows' side was as good choice as any for her. In fact, it was much better then anything else she could imagine, at least here she had purpose and no small respect; for despite the briefness of her training, she was already considered a very good spaceship pilot, and she was expected to become one of the best of their spaceship pilots or even the very best of their spaceship pilots, and very soon at that. And while as a spaceship she wasn't as powerful as some of their larger spaceships, her skills in piloting more then made up for her smaller size and limited amount of armor and weapons.

She put all these thoughts of hers away, as suddenly the blackness of space turned orange at some distance from the Shadows' fleet, as many Hyperspace portal opened, letting another somewhat smaller fleet into the system. She didn't have to mentally prepare herself, instead she had to restrain herself to fight off her desire to rush forward and try herself in real battle after many months of intensive trainings. But not today, for she knew that these were not enemies who came into the system, but ones of the few allies the Shadows still had.

Still, treachery was not unheard of, and thus she carefully watched approaching mother ships, each of which carried a lot of attached frigate-class ships under its bottom, and appeared to be ready to release them against the possible enemies at any moment. But as mother ships slowly approached the Shadows' fleet, it became clear that even if their allies were treacherous in nature, they had no intention of trying their combat prowess against that of ones of the first ones. According to their custom, a single ambassadorial capsule separated from the flagship, heading towards the planet's surface. Now there will be a round of formal negotiations, and the race known as Drakh will join their long-time masters for an upcoming war.

She mentally smiled to herself; one way or another, her waiting won't be long now.

Author's Notes:

That is it, people, the last chapter of this story of mine is done. Yes, while a great many things still remain unresolved, this is indeed the end of this story of mine. As always, your reviews with your comments about both this chapter of this story of mine, as well as this story of mine as a whole are definitely welcome.

By the way, as you definitely didn't fail to notice, the ending of this story of mine leaves quite a lot of room for a sequel, and I am likely to be willing to start writing it, but only if at least a few people will be interested in reading it. This being so, if you would like to read the sequel for this story of mine, please don't forget to mention it in your review for this chapter of this story of mine. If at least a few people will be interested in reading the sequel for this story of mine, then I will very likely start writing the sequel for this story of mine sooner or later. Don't forget, however, that it will possibly take me a more or less long time, possibly as much as a few months or possibly even longer, to write even the first chapter of the sequel to this story of mine.

And finally, I would like to thank all the wonderful people who ever bothered to review this story of mine…

Author's Words of Gratitude:

Sippio, even though your review was a rather short one, and even though I don't really know whether you ever read this story of mine beyond the first chapter or no, you were the first one to ever review this story of mine, and I thank you for that oh so very much!

Ultima Tech Incorporated (formerly known as Ultima Bigaroh), it was truly wonderful for me to hear such a gracious compliment from you, especially since I really view you as a very gifted and skilled writer. And you were definitely right back then, my English grammar at the time when I was just beginning to write this story of mine was absolutely horrible, and even now it unfortunately leaves very much to be desired. Also, unfortunately, I don't really know if you have ever read this story beyond the second chapter of it, but something tells me that you didn't. Well, perhaps you have found that the later chapters of this story of mine aren't fully for your liking.

EGBC, just as it was with sippio, I would have really liked your review to be at least a little bit longer. But still, I thank you oh so very much for reading this story of mine at least up to the third chapter of it, and for offering your support to me during the hard times, when a single review was as much as I expected to get for a single chapter of this story of mine.

Galandria the Vampire Queen… Well… I also thank you for at least reviewing this story of mine, although from your review, which you have used primary and only to advertise other people's stories, it is not clear to me whether you read this story of mine at all or not.

RichardRahl, I thank you oh so very much for the enormous amount of support you've offered to me throughout the later part of my writing this story of mine! I am also terribly sorry if my writing of this story of mine wasn't as fast as you would like it to be, but truth to tell, I am rather slow (i.e. terribly lazy ) writer, and if I write at least one chapter for one of my fanfictional stories in a month – that is an achievement for me! Still, I hope that you really enjoyed reading this story of mine, and that I haven't kept you waiting for the new chapters of it for too long. Oh, and by the way, I cannot help wondering, do you have any plans about writing one or few fanfictional stories of your own, RichardRahl?

Scifimimi, I also thank you oh so very much for multiple reviews you have written for this story of mine, although it seems that the latest chapter of it (i.e. chapter nine) wasn't fully for you liking, as you have never bothered to review it, and I don't really know whether you have ever read it or no. Well, I hope that you at least enjoyed those chapters of this story of mine that you have read and reviewed.

And last but definitely not least, I thank my beloved Agent Regina! I am truly happy to know that you have enjoyed reading this story of mine and hope that this chapter of this story of mine as well as this story of mine as whole provided you with a few interesting surprises regarding the mysterious Shadows. I also thank you oh so very much for the enormous amount of support you've offered to me throughout the later part of my writing this story of mine! Oh, and although I have told this to you quite a lot of times already, you really shouldn't worry about lazy me overworking myself, for this will never happen!

And finally, I also thank all those who have possibly read this story of mine, but haven't reviewed it for some reason, and I hope that all these people also enjoyed reading this story of mine to a smaller or greater degree.

 – Black Robed One


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